Avatar: Fire and Ash grossed $1.4 billion worldwide last December. However, after the record-breaking success of Avatar ($2.9 billion) and Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.3 billion), the threequel was deemed to have underperformed.
After all, the third chapter cost $350 million to shoot and an additional $150 million to market. Fire and Ash did turn a modest profit, but we've since learned that Disney is concerned about continuing to invest in the sci-fi franchise due to potentially diminishing returns.
Last month, it was reported that, while the House of Mouse isn't giving up on Pandora, conversations are ongoing about how to make future Avatar movies "cheaper and shorter."
The idea is that, by doing so, they would be a less risky investment. Everyone has been wondering how filmmaker James Cameron feels about it, and we finally have our answer.
"You know, I’ll be doing some writing. I’ve got a number of projects that I’m cooking," the filmmaker told Empire (via SFFGazette.com). "And 'Avatar 4' and '5' are still floating out there. We’re going to be looking at some new technologies to try to do them more efficiently. Because they’re hideously expensive and take a long time."
"I want to do them in half the time for two-thirds of the cost. That’s my metric," Cameron added, suggesting he's on board with Disney's plans for the franchise. "And so it’s going to take us a year or so to figure out how to do that."
So, the creative clash many felt would lead to the director parting ways with Disney isn't currently on the cards. That will come as a relief to Avatar fans, but the fourth chapter arriving in theaters on December 21, 2029, doesn't seem likely. Whether shorter runtimes are a possibility is TBD.
It's previously been reported that around 22% (a surprisingly specific number) of the fourth chapter is already in the can. And, while Cameron enlisted Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver to write the second and third movies, he tasked Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno with shaping the fourth and fifth chapters.
Despite that, it sounds like Cameron is taking Pandora back to the drawing board, and that's going to take some time. Previously, it's been said that the next instalments are "said to be as radically different from 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' as 'Star Wars' was from 'The Empire Strikes Back.'"
Last year, Cameron shared his take on the Avatar franchise's future when he said, "This can be the last one. There’s only one [unanswered question] in the story. We may find that the release of Avatar 3 proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it’s as strong as it ever was — but only for certain types of films."
"It’s a coin toss right now. We won’t know until the middle of January," he continued. "I feel I’m at a bit of a crossroads. Do I want it to be a wild success — which almost compels me to continue and make two more Avatar movies? Or do I want it to fail just enough that I can justify doing something else?"
Right now, it seems Avatar and Cameron are at a crossroads. Stay tuned for updates.