Prior to the release of Avatar: Running Water , some had questioned.
whether the film would be able to earn anything from theatrical release given its high production costs. Well, the risk has been averted: now that it has exceeded one and a half billion dollars from global receipts, the sequel has proved profitable, and James Cameron has confirmed the realization of the following chapters.
During an episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? on HBO, the director joked that now he can no longer call himself out of the franchise:
It sure looks like, with its current momentum, the film will break even in the next few days, so I can’t call myself out, I have to do these other sequels. I know what I will do in the next six or seven years. The point is, everything will be fine. I’m sure we’ll have a chat with the upper management at Disney soon about the plans for Avatar 3 , which is already filmed – we’ve already captured and photographed the entire film, so we’re in extensive post-production to do all that magic in GTC. And then Avatar 4 and 5 are already written. We’ve also already shot part of 4 . At this point we started a franchise. We started a saga that can now unfold over multiple films.
Moreover, Cameron himself expressed his enthusiasm for the sequels speaking with 20 Minutes , where he confirmed that not all Na’vi will be “good”:
The fire will be represented by the “People of Ashes”. I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I’ve only shown their good sides. In the early films there are very negative human examples and very positive Na’vi examples. In Avatar 3 we will do the opposite. We will also explore other universes as we continue the story of the main characters. I can say that the last parts will be the best. The others were an introduction, a way to set the table before serving the meal.
At the end of December we discovered that the BBC had already unveiled the titles of the sequels in 2018, but we don’t know if they will be confirmed. These would be Avatar: The Seed Bearer , Avatar: The Tulkun Rider and Avatar: The Quest for Eywa .
As the director said, Avatar 3 was already filmed, along with some parts of Avatar 4 to avoid the ” Stranger Things effect ” associated with the aging of child and adolescent actors. Also, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have revealed that the second and third chapters were originally a single film.
We will keep you posted.
The synopsis
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: Water Run begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri and their children), of the danger that follows them, of where they are willing to go to keep themselves each other’s safety, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they face.
The cast
Returning in the sequels are Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldaña , Sigourney Weaver , Matt Gerald , Giovanni Ribisi , Stephen Lang and CCH Pounder .
Direction and screenplay
The direction is obviously handled by James Cameron , also screenwriter together with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno .
New faces
New cast members include Cliff Curtis ( Tonowari ), Oona Chaplin ( Varang ), Brendan Cowell ( Mick Scoresby ), Kate Winslet ( Ronal ), Bailey Bass ( Tsireya ), David Thewlis , Michelle Yeoh ( Dr. Karina Mogue ) , Edie Falco ( General Ardmore ), Jemaine Clement ( Dr. Ian Garvin ).
The release dates
December 16, 2022 – Avatar 2
December 20, 2024 – Avatar 3
December 18, 2026 – Avatar 4
December 22, 2028 – Avatar 5