James Cameron has spoken openly about how Avatar: The Way of Water needs to absolutely crush it at the box office for the franchise to continue. In recent interviews, he’s candidly stated that should the sequel fail, he’s prepared to pull the plug after Avatar 3, which has already been shot. However, should The Way of Water prove to be a box office juggernaut like the first film, Cameron has revealed that he’s prepared to take the franchise even further than the already announced Avatar 5.
Part of the 13-year gap between Avatar and its sequel is that Cameron insisted on having the next four films written before getting behind the camera. With the story locked in, he got to work shooting The Way of Water and Avatar 3 back-to-back. (There’s even footage for Avatar 4 already in the can.) However, making the films has been wildly expensive, so there’s a chance they could no longer be worth the investment to Disney. But if Cameron does strike gold again, well, he knows he’s probably not going to live to see the rest of the massive story if he doesn’t hand over the reins.
He’s also got plans — should the world demand them — for Avatar 6 and 7. “I’d be 89 by then,” Cameron says. That sounds like a joke, but based on the fact that it took 25 years for him to make the first two Avatar movies, it’s pretty realistic. “Obviously, I’m not going to be able to make Avatar movies indefinitely, the amount of energy required.” He’s started giving some thought to a succession plan. “I would have to train somebody how to do this because, I don’t care how smart you are as a director, you don’t know how to do this.” He figures he may have five or six more movies in him and that three of them, probably, would be Avatar movies.
Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on December 16, and if you want more Avatar movies, you better go see it a bunch of times because, seriously, it needs to make like a bajillion dollars. Blue cat aliens don’t grow on trees, you know.
Or do they? It’s been so long.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)