James Cameron wants to change things up for Avatar 4 and 5 to make them cheaper and easier to make, but fans are worried about what cost-cutting measures could look like.

"You know, I’ll be doing some writing. I’ve got a number of projects that I’m cooking," Cameron told the Empire Film Podcast. "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. And so it’s going to take us a year or so to figure out how to do that."

Some fans are worried that this technology could be generative AI, however. "It better not be what I think it is," wrote one Twitter user. "Such an obvious AI soft-launch," said another.

At one point, Cameron said he was prepared to walk away from the franchise if the third installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, failed to perform at the box office. Luckily, that wasn't the case, and the threequel made over a billion dollars (which made Cameron the first director in history to make four billion-dollar hits in a row). Still, only a third of Avatar 4 has been shot so far, and there's still a lot of work to be done on the fifth movie. Most recently, Cameron said that the fourquel was "very likely."

"I hope we get to do it, because they're two incredible stories that fulfill everything Jim wanted to say for our benefit as Earthlings, as humans," Sigourney Weaver, who plays adopted Na'vi Kiri, told GamesRadar+ while promoting The Mandalorian and Grogu. "But, whatever they want to do is fine."

Avatar 4 is set to hit theaters on December 21, 2029, with Avatar 5 following on December 19, 2031. In the meantime, check out the best upcoming movies on the way this year.

Avatar star Sam Worthington says the key difference between his sci-fi franchise and Marvel movies is that James Cameron's Na'vi epics aren't bound by outside pressures, which enables more risk-taking.

"We’re unlike Marvel movies, in the sense of… it feels like an independent movie when we make it," Worthington, who plays human-turned-Na'vi Jake Sully, said in a new interview with The Independent.

"We don’t have outside pressures, or expectations from the press, or the studio, or the community. It doesn’t affect what we do. And that’s why we can take more risks. It’s not like we have to get scenes completed by today or the studio is going to be upset. We just play and create. People don’t understand that."

Of Cameron, he added, "They think it’s this big solid machine where Jim is the didactic director. And he’s not. He’s a painter."

Thanks to the three Avatar movies released so far, Cameron is the first director in history to have four consecutive billion-dollar movies (the fourth movie is 1997's Titanic). Avatar: Fire and Ash, the most recent installment, is the lowest-grossing so far, while still bringing in nearly $1.5 billion at the global box office.

A fourth and fifth movie are planned, but Cameron has yet to confirm whether they're definitely going ahead – even though some of Avatar 4 has already been filmed. "Here’s the thing: the movie industry is depressed right now. Avatar 3 cost a lot of money," Cameron said in January.

"We have to do well in order to continue. We have to do well, and we need to figure out how to make Avatar movies more inexpensively in order to continue." However, last month, the director said it was "very likely" that the fourquel would go ahead.

Avatar 4 is set to hit theaters on December 21, 2029. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies to add to your watchlist.

He’s no stranger to splashing cash on the cinema-dominating blockbusters he’s churned out, but when it comes to Avatar 4 and 5, James Cameron has admitted he might need to watch the purse strings a little this time around.

Even after earning $1.2 billion at the box office following the success of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the Pandora-based threequel is still leagues behind the previous instalments. Avatar still stands as the most successful film of all time with $2.9 billion, and Avatar: The Way of Water raking in $2.3 billion, making it the third most successful movie ever after Avengers: Endgame.

According to Box Office Mojo, though, Fire and Ash is the 28th on the list, which should spark understandable concerns among fans of the franchise about whether Disney will give Cameron’s long-planned follow-up films the blue thumbs-up. The director himself has acknowledged that the numbers might need to be shuffled if the projects proceed as planned.

“Here’s the thing: the movie industry is depressed right now. Avatar 3 cost a lot of money,” Cameron explained during an appearance on Taiwanese outlet, TVBS News. “We have to do well in order to continue. We have to do well, and we need to figure out how to make Avatar movies more inexpensively in order to continue.”

Cameron also name-dropped Michelle Yeoh as a potential new cast member who could join the franchise if it continues. “If we continue and we do 4, we also do 4 and 5 together. So we made 2 and 3 together, one big story. And then 4 and 5 is another big story. And Michelle will be in 4 and 5. And she will play a performance capture character. Her character name is Paktu’eylat. She will be a Na’vi.”

If Yeoh does end up joining the Navi, it’ll be a while before we see it happen. Avatar 4 has been scheduled for a release on December 21, 2029, followed by Avatar 5 on December 19, 2031. While we wait, why not check out the films that are set for release this year instead?

Aquaman director James Wan wants to play in the Avatar sandbox.

Wan, who has also helmed horror hits like Insidious, The Conjuring, and Malignant, revealed in a new interview with Screen Rant that he'd be happy to work on James Cameron's Avatar franchise if the director steps away after Avatar: Fire and Ash.

"I have not done Avatar," Wan said. "Yeah, if you could put a good one for me with James Cameron, I'd love to take a crack at that."

However, while Cameron has indicated he'd be open to stepping back from Avatar in the future, it does sound like he'll always want to be closely involved.

When asked by Matt Belloni whether he'd hand the franchise to someone else, Cameron said, "Absolutely not," noting he'd always at least be on board as a producer: "I don't think there'd ever be a version where there's another Avatar movie that I didn't produce closely. But in terms of it taking over my life, you know, that's a threshold issue for me."

Cameron also indicated he'd be willing to step away from the franchise if Fire and Ash didn't make enough money. "Absolutely," Cameron said. "I've been in Avatar land for 20 years. Actually, 30 years, because I wrote it in '95, right, but I wasn't working continuously on it for those first 10 years. There was a brief flurry of interest in '95, and then everybody said, 'You're out of your mind,' and I shelved it for 10 years, and then we got serious in 2005. Yeah, absolutely. Sure, if this is where it ends, cool."

But, Avatar: Fire and Ash recently crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, so there seems to be no risk of the franchise failing financially. Avatar 4 is currently set for release on December 21, 2029.

Fire and Ash is in theaters now. For more, check out our Avatar: Fire and Ash review or our Avatar: Fire and Ash ending explained.

Guillermo del Toro has revealed that James Cameron told him to cut a "beautiful" seven-minute scene from Frankenstein.

"What I do – because we don't test the movies – I show it to the 14, 16 most brilliant friends I know, and I'm blessed with good friendships," del Toro told Variety on the red carpet at Palm Springs International Film Festival.

"Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Iñárritu, Jim Cameron, Rian Johnson, Steven [Spielberg]," he continued when asked who was in that circle. "A lot of people see the movie, they tell me what they think, and we have the agreement to be brutal. Jim [Cameron] came in and he said, 'Look, there's this section' – which is not in the movie anymore – 'This is beautiful, but you gotta take it out. And it was about seven minutes… When someone gives me a note that is in that circle, I do it. I don't argue."

Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac as the titular scientist, whose outlandish experiments result in the creation of new human life in the form of the Creature, played by Jacob Elordi. The movie is a long-time passion project of del Toro's and the filmmaker has been trying to make it for almost two decades. "It definitely highlights the personal over the scientific," Elordi told GamesRadar+ last year. "To me, it's a biography of Guillermo's."

As for Cameron, his latest sci-fi epic Avatar: Fire and Ash hit theaters last month. The movie sees the Sully clan go up against a new threat: the Mangkwan, led by the dangerous Varang, who's allied herself with Jake's enemy Colonel Miles Quaritch.

Frankenstein is available to stream on Netflix. For more on what to watch, check out our guide to the other best movies on Netflix in 2026.

James Cameron says that not only was Matt Damon never formally offered the lead in 2009's Avatar, but that he was never offered 10 percent of the film's earnings, either.

"He was never offered the part," Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter. "I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did? Then we wound up on a call, and he said, ‘I love to explore doing a movie with you. I have a lot of respect for you as a filmmaker. [Avatar] sounds intriguing. But I really have to do this Jason Bourne movie. I’ve agreed to it, it’s a direct conflict, and so, regretfully, I have to turn it down.’ But he was never offered. There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue."

In a clip shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Damon says, verbatim, that Cameron offered him 10 percent of Avatar. "'The movie is the star, the idea is the star, and it’s going to work,'" Cameron allegedly said. "'But if you do it, I’ll give you 10 percent of the movie.'" The filmmaker plainly stated it "never happened," adding that what Damon said is a "conflation of different things that were happening."

Damon had already committed to playing Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, which would go on to be a pretty successful franchise for the Bostonite and bestie of Ben Affleck. The role of Jake ultimately went to Sam Worthington, who stars opposite Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri – which was a feat in itself given that the studio really pushed Cameron to cast a famous face, rather than a then-unknown. The film, which was truly the first of its kind at the time, ultimately grossed over $2 billion against a budget of just $237 million.

Added Cameron: "What [Damon has] done is he’s extrapolated ‘I get 10 percent of the gross on all my films.’ And if, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do Avatar, then it wouldn’t have happened. Trust me on that."

An extremely successful sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, hit theaters in 2022, some 13 years after the flagship film. A third sequel, Fire and Ash just hit theaters... and a fourth and a fifth film are indeed on the way. Avatar 4 is set for a 2029 release, with Avatar 5 scheduled for 2031.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters now. For more, check out our list of movie release dates.

Sam Worthington's Jake Sully has guided audiences through Pandora in all three films of the Avatar franchise. However, it appears the Toruk Makto is stepping aside in upcoming films for a new voice to emerge.

"I narrate the next one, [Avatar 4]," Sigourney Weaver, who plays teenage Na'vi wunderkind Kiri, told Jake's Takes. "It's a major part of the saga for Kiri."

After confirming she was told back in 2013, right around the time when the Avatar sequels began to take shape, Weaver explains that the next two planned movies are a "big shift."

"[James Cameron] may have changed some ideas but [Avatar 4 and Avatar 5] are still, as far as I know, what he wrote back then… it's a big shift in four and five," Weaver said.

Avatar 4 is currently set to hit cinemas on December 21, 2029, though there is ongoing speculation that Cameron will take more of a backseat for the next two sequels. That's not something the director particularly subscribes to.

"I mean, there's no reason not to. I'm healthy, I'm good to go," Cameron told Empire.

Yet, it's not a concrete certainty for the Terminator and Titanic filmmaker. He said, "I'm not going to rule it out. I mean, I've got to make it in a vigorous way, to handle the kind of volume and energy of the work for another six or seven years. You know what I mean? I might not be able to do that."

Avatar: Fire and Ash is now in cinemas, with an extra bonus for Marvel fans: an Avengers: Doomsday teaser.

If you've already witnessed the third trip back to Pandora, dive into our guides on the Avatar: Fire and Ash ending and whether there's an Avatar: Fire and Ash post-credits scene.

It's not all flamethrowers and power loaders in Avatar, you know. The Way of Water first interrogated the idea that the RDA – and humans as a whole – were in search of a yellow liquid named Amrita, a valuable resource which could only be found on the planet of Pandora.

Fast forward to Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Amrita is on the radar again – and even factors into the finale in a big way. So, if you need an explanation on why certain forces are fighting over the material, or just a refresher on why Tulkuns are even more important to the narrative than you originally thought, you're in the right place.

So, let's brave the stormy waters of Pandora to bring you the lowdown on Amrita, its importance in Fire and Ash, and why it could still be a factor moving forward in Avatar 4 and beyond. While you're here, be sure to dive into our guide to the Avatar: Fire and Ash ending and a larger look at the Ash People.

What is the yellow liquid in Avatar: The Way of Water?

Amrita first appeared in Avatar: The Way of Water, with the RDA and Scoresby aiming to drill into the tulkun's brain to extract yellow liquid known as amrita.

As Scoresby explains, the substance is, essentially, an elixir to "completely" stop human aging and could be worth trillions.

The Way of Water also briefly addressed Earth’s status – it’s dying and Pandora will be used as the first stop on the frontier for humanity.

That's a concern that rears its ugly head once more in Fire and Ash, with Scoresby again returning to settle the score against Payakan – and a legion of Tulkun on the open waters of Pandora. Scoresby and the antagonistic humans fail in their quest, however, with the former seemingly dragged to the ocean floor and killed.

With the RDA's answer to the Fountain of Youth slipping through its fingers and Avatar 4 already confirmed to at least stop off at Earth, expect the battle of immortality to reach new, more frenzied heights. But the Tulkun are safe, for now.

For more on Fire and Ash, check out our streaming guide, plus a look at whether there's an Avatar 3 post-credits scene.

The Avatar: Fire and Ash ending is a particularly action-packed one, so it's understandable if some of the finer details of what happens passed you by.

The film is the third in James Cameron's epic Avatar series, which kicked off way back in 2009. This one requires you to remember some plot points from the first movie, as well as what happened in The Way of Water, so you might need to brush up on your Pandora lore. In Fire and Ash, Jake Sully and his family go up against the fearsome fire Na'vi, the Ash People, while also dealing with their old foes Quaritch and the RDA.

Below, we've broken down the complete Avatar: Fire and Ash ending, so you can get up to speed on absolutely everything that happens in the last part of the sci-fi film. Naturally, that means there are major spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen the film yet! For everyone else, head to the below and get up to speed on our latest trip to Pandora. You can also check out our Avatar: Fire and Ash review for our spoiler-free verdict on the movie.

Avatar: Fire and Ash ending explained *Spoilers*

The Avatar: Fire and Ash ending begins when Jake Sully is freed from RDA captivity with the help of Neytiri, Spider, and the scientist Dr. Ian Garvin. He returns to the Metkayina to rally Pandora's clans and prepare to fight back, after learning the RDA and Scoresby intend to hunt the Tulkun for Amrita, a special liquid fatally extracted from the whale-like creatures that has anti-ageing properties for humankind.

Payakan was exiled from the Tulkun earlier in the movie for his violent tendencies, but, with the help of Lo'ak, he's able to convince the Tulkun matriarchs that fighting back is the only way to survive. His only surviving family member has been brutally wounded and blinded by the RDA, too, which helps sway the other creatures.

Jake then rallies the clans for war, and he also returns to the great Toruk, his fiery orange bonded bird, to become Toruk Makto once more and fight for the Na'vi.

The clans lie in wait while Scoresby and the RDA arrive to kill the Tulkun. Scoresby is taken by surprise when the Tulkun fight back for the first time ever, sinking multiple boats. Meanwhile, the Na'vi take to the skies and fight the RDA.

But, when the Ash People arrive, the tide turns against Jake and his forces. Quaritch, who was grounded by General Ardmore for losing sight of his mission, also shows up to wage war – Jake still has Quaritch's human son, Spider.

When all hope seems lost, Kiri decides to go underwater and connect her queue. This could prove disastrous, however, as Kiri is epileptic, and connecting in this way causes her to have seizures. Spider goes with her and connects for the first time, too, using the queue he developed after Kiri saved his life by calling on her strange powers to allow him to breathe Pandora's atmosphere. Still, it's not enough, until the youngest Sully, Tuk, also joins them.

The trio make it all the way to Eywa herself, who turns and takes notice of them. It's unclear if she's going to send help, until a swarm of the squid-like creatures Lo'ak dealt with earlier in the film, the Tsyong, appear and go to town on the RDA. The humans drown or are eaten by the creatures. Payakan's family member takes Scoresby in her mouth and dives down into the ocean, presumably drowning him.

But, the fight isn't over yet. Varang takes Tuk captive, so the Sully family go after her. Jake and Lo'ak are on hand to help save the day, however, and then – in an Aliens callback – Sigourney Weaver's Kiri scares Varang away from Neytiri.

This leads to a confrontation between Jake and Quaritch, who fistfight each other in a giant anti-gravity well. Spider is also with them, and when he almost falls to his death, both men stop fighting to save him. Sully extends a hand to Quaritch and tries to get him onside, but Quaritch is spooked by Neytiri and the others arriving, so deliberately throws himself backwards. He's last seen falling towards the fires below, and it's unclear what his fate is – though we highly doubt he's dead.

Finally, Spider connects his queue and goes to see the dead at the Tree of Souls, including Dr. Grace Augustine and Neteyam – and Ronal, who sadly dies during the climactic action, though Neytiri helps her deliver her child first. Payakan is accepted back from exile, too. It's a happy ending for the Sullys, though we suspect Quaritch is still out there to cause more problems if Avatar 4 goes ahead…

What happens to Varang?

Varang, the fearsome leader of the Ash People, is last seen running away after Kiri scares her off (with a neat callback to Aliens). After that, we don't see her again, so it seems she fled the carnage of the final battle entirely. She'll most likely show up again in Avatar 4, if it goes ahead.

Does Quaritch die?

Quaritch's fate is left unknown. After it seems like Jake gets through to him and convinces him to give Pandora a chance, Neytiri and the rest of the Sully family arrive, which spooks Quaritch. Though he's being given a chance at redemption, Quaritch throws himself backwards and falls down towards the fire below. We last see him screaming as he falls, though seemingly not in fear. Whether he survives the plunge or not remains to be seen, but this wouldn't be the first time Quaritch defied death to return and cause trouble for Jake Sully.

What does Toruk Makto mean and why is Jake Sully called that?

Toruk Makto means 'Rider of the Last Shadow,' and it's a title belonging to Jake Sully after he successfully rode the Great Leonopteryx Toruk in the first film. Jake returns to ride the Toruk again in Avatar: Fire and Ash during the climactic action, and, though it gets injured, it climbs back up and carries on the fight.

Who are the Ash People and why do they love fire?

The Ash People are another type of Na'vi on Pandora, the Mangkwan Clan. Their home was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, and, as a consequence, they turned their backs on Eywa. They're also violent and vicious, attacking other Na'vi. They're introduced in an aerial battle sequence against the Wind Traders, which is how they first cross paths with the Sully family – and Quaritch.

Who are the Wind Traders?

The Wind Traders are the Tlalim Clan, and they are nomadic Na'vi who travel Pandora to trade. Jake wants to use them to send Spider back to live with the other humans on Pandora after Spider's mask breaks and he almost suffocates in the Pandoran atmosphere, but, after the kids get upset with this decision, the entire Sully family ends up travelling, too. The Wind Traders are brutally attacked by the Ash People on the journey.

How can Spider breathe on Pandora?

Spider's mask breaks in the night near the start of the film, which means he almost suffocates when the Sullys can't immediately find the back-up mask. Jake then decides to send him to the other humans on Pandora, but his kids are vehemently against the idea. But, when the Wind Traders are attacked, Spider's mask starts running low and the spare is left behind in the wreckage. When Spider appears to be dying, Kiri asks Eywa for help, and she connects to the ground and begins a strange ritual.

When Lo'ak stops the ritual, fearing for Kiri's life, Spider is revealed to be able to breathe the Pandoran atmosphere. It turns out that the ritual created a symbiotic relationship between some Pandoran flora and Spider, which means it can't be extracted without killing him. However, the RDA intend to experiment on him to figure out how humans could breathe on Pandora, which would spell doom for the planet.

Why did the RDA want to experiment on Spider?

A major issue standing between the RDA and total colonization of Pandora is that humans can't breathe the atmosphere. However, since a ritual performed by Kiri to stop Spider from suffocating without his mask fuses him to some Pandoran flora and allows him to breathe the atmosphere (and gives him a queue), the RDA want to experiment on him to see if they can recreate the phenomenon for all of humankind. That would be disastrous for Pandora and the Na'vi, so Jake considers killing Spider to save the planet. Ultimately, he can't go through with it.

Why does Jake Sully nearly kill Spider?

Jake takes Spider into the forest after escaping RDA captivity to sacrifice the youngster, believing him too dangerous to be left alive. If the RDA re-capture Spider and find a way to replicate the phenomenon that allows him to breathe Pandora's atmosphere, then it would be disastrous for the planet and the Na'vi, as nothing would then stop the RDA from completely colonizing the planet. But, Jake can't bring himself to kill Spider, even though Spider understands why it has to happen.

Why do the Tulkun decide to fight back?

Payakan is exiled from his clan for his violent ways, and he goes to find his own family instead. But, only one member of his family survives, and she has been brutally maimed by Scoresby's crew and blinded. Payakan and his family member return to the Tulkun matriarchs to tell them to fight back – the Tulkun are completely pacifist, which means Scoresby has been killing them for Amrita with impunity. The Tulkuns disappear to make their decision, and, the next time we see them, they're destroying the RDA fleet. The answer was yes, then…

Why is Jake Sully arrested? Why is he a traitor to humankind?

Quaritch takes Jake into custody as a consequence of the events of the first film. Cast your mind all the way back to 2009, and you'll remember that Jake was originally a human marine who turned against Quaritch and the RDA to fight for Pandora. Quaritch has held a grudge ever since, and clearly, so has the rest of humanity and planet Earth.

What is Neytiri's bow?

Neytiri's bow belonged to her father, Eytukan, who gave it to her before perishing when the Hometree was destroyed. It broke in The Way of Water, but the kids repair it, and Neytiri uses it once more.

What happens to Scoresby? What about the RDA?

Scoresby gets the shock of his life when the usually pacifist Tulkun fight back against his attempts to massacre them. He's knocked into the water and Payakan's family member takes him into her mouth and dives down deep with him, presumably to drown him in the depths.

As for the rest of the RDA, everyone is killed either in the aerial battle against the Na'vi on their Toruks, or drowned or eaten by the squid-like creatures, the Tsyong, Eywa summons in the battle. The RDA's forces are pretty much entirely destroyed.

Who do Kiri and Spider see in their vision? Is that Eywa?

Kiri and Spider connect their queues underwater to speak to Eywa, who is a divine being connected to Pandora's natural world. Eywa doesn't speak back to them, but she does turn to look at them, and soon after she sends a squad of squid-like creatures, the Tsyong, to massacre the RDA and help save the day.

How does Eywa help the Sullys? What are those squid creatures?

Eywa listens to Kiri and Spider and sends the Tsyong, which are squid-like creatures, to attack the RDA. The creatures viciously go after all the humans there, eating them and destroying the ships.

What are Kiri's powers? Who is Kiri's father?

It's revealed in the film that Kiri has no biological father, meaning she is a clone birthed by Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi. She has mysterious powers, however, and is able to save Spider by connecting him to Pandora's natural world. She's also able to speak directly with Ewya. The full extent of her powers remains to be seen, however.

Who are all the characters at the end of the film?

At the very end of the film, Kiri takes Spider to see all those who have died previously in the Avatar movies. We see the likes of Dr. Grace Augustine, Neteyam, and even Ronal, all gathered at the Home Tree.

Does Ronal die?

Sadly, Ronal dies during the last battle, but not before she gives birth to her baby. Neytiri helps her deliver the child, a baby girl, who is seen connecting underwater at the very end of the film. Ronal is injured through her shoulder and dies from the wound soon after giving birth.

Does Fire and Ash set up Avatar 4?

Kind of. At the moment, it's unclear if Avatar 4 will happen, with James Cameron indicating he'd be willing to walk away from the series if Fire and Ash doesn't make enough money. But, he also said he'd write a book to wrap up the one open plot thread – and that seems to be Quaritch, who jumps away from Jake Sully's attempt at conciliation and into some fires raging below. Varang also flees without being caught after Kiri scares her off. So, another Avatar movie will probably catch up with Quaritch or Varang, who will presumably still be working against the Sully family (though, Quaritch seems primed to switch sides eventually).

The RDA have pretty much been defeated, too, but presumably there are more forces who could take the fallen's place: and there's the issue of Spider being able to breathe Pandora's atmosphere, which has revealed to humanity that total colonization of Pandora could be possible. In short, things seem pretty wrapped up for now, but there are plenty of opportunities for a follow-up.

That's a wrap on Avatar: Fire and Ash. For more, check out our Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained, or see our guide to all the biggest movie release dates to get planning your theater trips.

Things haven't been easy for Colonel Miles Quaritch. After dying in the first Avatar movie, he reappeared in Avatar: The Way of Water as a recombinant, which means his human memories were implanted in the body of a Na'vi – the native Pandoran species Quaritch is sworn against.

In Avatar: Fire and Ash, we see a whole new side to Quaritch once again. This time, he becomes tangled up with the Mangkwan Clan, or the titular Ash People, a bloodthirsty type of Na'vi obsessed with fire who are led by the fearsome Varang. Surprisingly, Quaritch seems to have a certain affinity with these unlikely new pals.

"He must adapt to Pandora will he or nill he. He's tried to make Pandora adapt to him," Lang tells us when we meet in London. "He brought in a certain consciousness when he was head of security at Hell's Gate. And, as he acknowledged very early on, 'My job is to keep you alive, and I will not succeed.' So, he was kind of doomed and consigned to failure from the very beginning. That whole thing has changed, now.

"He's become, I shouldn't say one with the planet, because he hasn't – or one with the moon – but now he has the DNA of Eywa, [it's] actually coursing through his veins, so he needs to find a way to adapt that's acceptable to the Quaritch that's left in him," he continues. "And, of course, the Mangkwan, the Ash People, represent that, because when he goes to where they live, he's in familiar territory. The very sulfurous smell of conflict and war is in the air. This is something that he understands. This is a milieu in which he exists."

Jake Sully, though, believes Quaritch is capable of becoming one with Pandora, and throughout the new film, frequently encourages his nemesis to open his heart to the natural world around him.

"Well, there's been a definitely an evolution in the relationship, a deepening of the relationship, and, in some sense, there's been a widening of the chasm between them," says Lang of Quaritch and Jake's complicated dynamic. "But, on a whole 'nother level, there's sort of almost a mutual dependence that has occurred, it seems to me. And, of course, they're bound together by this young boy, Spider, as well. So, whatever exists between Quaritch and Sully, just because of the fact that they're both Marines, they're both mission oriented, they both understand – they both have the same vocabulary, it seems to me. There's this added thing of this boy, and are they vying for him? What exactly is it? That dynamic is constantly shifting between them, and so much of the joy of making a film like this is exploring that dynamic."

But, of course, you should still expect Quaritch and Jake to trade blows. "There's a battle royale at the end, a real donnybrook that happens, and there's always a fight between Sully and Quaritch in these films," says Lang with a grin. "So, somehow you've got to keep kind of upping it. The ante goes up, and each one is different. It's like thinking back to the heavyweight fighters that we love, thinking about Muhammad Ali, or Tyson. Each of their fights is brutal, and in different ways. They're articulated in different ways, and I think Ali and Frazier fought three times. It's like Sully and Quaritch, just kind of going at it."

You can watch Jake and Quaritch clash when Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to the biggest movie release dates of this year and beyond, or catch up on the previous film with the lowdown on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

Reviews are in for Avatar: Fire and Ash, the next installment in James Cameron's epic sci-fi movie series – and, so far, it holds the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise.

Fire and Ash sits at 68% with 88 reviews at the time of writing, though expect that to fluctuate as more reviews come in. In contrast, Avatar: The Way of Water sits at 76%, and the original Avatar holds a score of 81%.

Our own Avatar: Fire and Ash review awards the film four-stars, with our verdict reading: "The most action-packed Avatar yet still has the capacity to dazzle, with Oona Chaplin's Varang turning up the heat. Even if a frustrating lack of resolution and some repetitive storytelling choices make this feel more like The Way of Water part 2."

Fire and Ash picks up after the death of Jake Sully and Neytiri's son, Neteyam, in The Way of Water ending – and introduces a terrifying new threat in the form of Varang, leader of the fearsome Ash People, AKA a fire clan called the Mangkwan.

So far, Fire and Ash is tracking to have a big opening weekend, though perhaps not quite as big as The Way of Water. Cameron has already indicated he's willing to walk away from the series if the threequel doesn't make enough money.

"Absolutely," Cameron said previously. "I've been in Avatar land for 20 years. Actually, 30 years, because I wrote it in '95, right, but I wasn't working continuously on it for those first 10 years. There was a brief flurry of interest in '95, and then everybody said, 'You're out of your mind,' and I shelved it for 10 years, and then we got serious in 2005. Yeah, absolutely. Sure, if this is where it ends, cool."

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies for everything else the rest of this year and beyond has in store.

The brilliance of Avatar is that it offers a window into a new world. But, for the first time in Fire and Ash, you might start to feel like you've seen this view before. The third chapter in James Cameron's proposed 5-film saga, Fire and Ash remains a technical marvel, with some of the year's best action filmmaking. But repetitive storytelling beats and one too many familiar locations mean this is the least effective entry in the box-office-conquering series so far.

This makes sense when you learn that The Way of Water and Fire and Ash were originally conceived as one film, only to be split into two installments. Picking up shortly after the RDA's temporary defeat at the flipper-shaped hands of the aquatic Metkayina clan, and the death of eldest Sully son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), the status quo remains largely unchanged. The recombinant Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is still doggedly pursuing Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the RDA suits want to hunt space whales for their invaluable brain juice, and the typically peaceful Na'vi are prepared to fight, so that spiritual and ecological harmony can return to Pandora.

There is at least one significant new spark of excitement: the fearsome Ash People. Led by Oona Chaplin's sinister Varang, these war-mongering Na'vi live in the charred husk of an incinerated mother tree and have turned their back on Eywa, putting stock in Varang's bloodthirsty mysticism instead. They're as much of a threat as the RDA, in their own way, particularly when a desperate Quaritch joins forces with the Mangkwan…

Fight or flight

To its credit, Fire and Ash doesn't waste any time getting to the action. The introduction of the nomadic Wind Traders – who the Sullys stow away with to move Spider (Jack Champion) to a safer location – sets up a first-act aerial setpiece that's better than the climactic action sequences of pretty much every blockbuster movie released this year. Whether you see it in Cameron's preferred format (high frame rate 3D) or not, the clarity, impact, and storytelling of the action filmmaking here is world-class.

And then Cameron does it again, at least two or three times over the course of Fire and Ash. A mini prison break from inside the smoke-belching RDA city is a vertiginous showcase for Neytiri's (Zoe Saldaña's) sharpshooting prowess, while a mano-a-mano showdown between Jake and Quaritch takes place in the kind of physics-defying environment only Avatar could imagine and execute to this standard. And – praise Eywa – there's plenty more of the Tulkun, including renegade outcast Payakan sticking it to the RDA once more.

It's a shame, then, that the film's climactic battle is simply a less-successful re-run of The Way of Water's aquatic centerpiece, with slightly remixed elements – a massive strategic error when the entire planet of Pandora is at your disposal. In isolation, it's a sequence as well-staged as any Cameron has put on screen across all three Avatar movies, but it's a rare case of Avatar not living up to its implicit promise to take you somewhere you've never been before.

Flame on

There's something of a cyclical quality to the story structure here, too, as various members of the Sully tribe are captured and rescued, captured and rescued over the course of the film. Much more dramatically compelling is Fire and Ash's thoughtful and moving reckoning with Neteyam's death. Youngest son, Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), is hit hard – wracked with guilt for taking his brother back into the fray that cost his life. While Saldaña does some of her best work yet as Neytiri, as she faces up to her hatred of the human invaders that have blighted her homeworld, including her own, partially human family.

If this is any one character's movie, however, it's Spider's. As the biological son of Quaritch and the surrogate son of the Sullys, Spider was already at the center of a tug-of-war between mortal frenemies. But Fire and Ash complicates an already messy situation even further by revealing that Spider can now breathe the poisonous Pandoran air, making him of vital importance to the RDA's future interests. The divisive Spider's centrality to the story will undoubtedly frustrate some, but Fire and Ash makes a compelling case for it, and gives Champion the opportunity to rise above the character's more grating characterization in The Way of Water.

By contrast, Jake is somewhat sidelined here. Instead, it's Quaritch and Varang who practically run away with the movie. Their enemy-of-my-enemy alliance results in some of the film's wackiest and wildest scenes, as the very odd couple bond over hallucinogenic space hookah and Varang's fetishization of fire. Lang is clearly having a blast, while Chaplin is a major value-add as Varang, bringing a dangerous sensuality to a character who just wants to eat some hearts. Who had the two evil space cats on their bingo card as the sexiest couple of the year?

Bright Eyes

As a visual effects showcase, Avatar remains the industry trailblazer. Pointing out how far ahead of the field Wētā FX's work is in rendering almost every aspect of Pandora feels like stating the obvious at this stage, but Fire and Ash is a consistently dazzling glimpse at what blockbuster visual effects can and should look like when rushed post-production schedules and slashed budgets aren't a limiting factor. That the most unreal elements of the film are the human actors says everything.

But all the technical bells and whistles can't fully mask over the cracks in a script with a near-fatal flaw. As the middle installment of five planned chapters, there's a lack of resolution to almost all of the film's major plot threads here that can't help but disappoint. That's not to say there aren't some major developments – Kiri's (Sigourney Weaver's) mysterious connection to Eywa is further explored – but, unlike The Way of Water, Fire and Ash feels like a film beholden to the fact that there's much more story to tell in a way that ultimately harms this chapter as a standalone experience.

And yet, despite all its flaws, Avatar is a spectacle like no other and a must-see as a result. The imagination and craft on display throughout remain unmatched. Let's just hope that future sequels find fresher places to take the series.

Avatar: Fire and Ash releases in theaters on Dec 19. For more dive into our guide to the biggest movie release dates of this year and beyond, or catch up on the previous film with the lowdown on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

Kiri is no ordinary Na'vi. Born from Dr. Grace Augustine's Avatar, Kiri has been adopted by Sam Worthington's Jake Sully and Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri and has grown up alongside their children, but it's clear there's something very special about this unconventional child.

Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Grace in Avatar and returned as Kiri in The Way of Water, is back once again as her teenaged character in Avatar: Fire and Ash, which explores Kiri's mysterious, mystical connection with Pandora's goddess Eywa in greater depth.

"Well, it's interesting because we're also not necessarily working in continuity," Weaver tells us when we meet in London to talk about the film. "So Kiri, who I think has these gifts, I guess you'd call them: an ability to communicate with other species and to somehow create miracles. And she's just – as far as she's concerned – a kid. A kid [who] doesn't know who her father is, etcetera. And in this [film], because all hell breaks loose, she has to step up, and she kind of has to go, 'All right, I'll never understand it, but I've just got to do what I have to do, and somehow I'm capable of doing [this].'

"And I think it's amazing to see that power take hold of her and change her, and kind of educate her," Weaver continues. "And you see that growing throughout the film. And so it's almost like, at this point as an actor, when I walk into the Volume where we do this work, I know the character, she's in me, but I have to kind of get out of her way, because I have no idea at this point. I do a lot of preparation ahead of time, but when I walk into the Volume, I sort of go, 'Okay, Kiri, take it away,' because she's so much a creature, an animal, as well as a human girl, that that part of her I just leave to [her]. I think your mind is saying, 'You're not this,' and my instrument is saying, 'Let's go!'"

Weaver of course is a frequent collaborator of director James Cameron's, beginning with 1986's Aliens. "I think he basically said, 'I hope you can do this,'" Weaver says with a laugh of working with Cameron on Fire and Ash. "Because we shot two and three together, and, of course, casting someone my age as someone 14, we joke about it, that I was this age emotionally, thank you very much! But I think he did see something in me that must have helped him create Kiri, and he just wanted me to get on with it.

"In fact, I don't really think he tells us where we're going. He wants to find out through us where the character is going, and that's why he's not in video village or anything," Weaver adds. "He is right there with us. And when we get to a scene, we are genuinely there to find out what the scene is about. And for Kiri, it's often, 'How does she make sense of what's happening now? How does she make sense of this world that doesn't make any sense to her?' And so, he kind of helps you get out of your way. He does everything possible to make sure you get to try everything you want to try. So, it's kind of like the perfect job for an actor. It's kind of a dream job."

You can see Kiri come into her own when Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to the biggest movie release dates of this year and beyond, or catch up on the previous film with the lowdown on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

James Cameron has left strict instructions for theaters playing Avatar: Fire and Ash in a letter signed off by the director himself.

In a note addressed "Dear Theater Technician," Cameron outlines what employees should be looking out for when exhibiting the movie. "There's a Projection Specification file and framing chart included with the DCP [Digital Cinema Package], with crucial information regarding light levels, audio configuration, proper framing, etc," it reads.

"Please go through it, and make sure your picture and sound systems are calibrated and ready to go. I personally mixed the film responsibly, so that it plays perfectly, with full dynamics between quiet dialogue scenes and big action scenes at the reference standard of 7.0 – please don't set it lower!"

"You are the final, but critically important, part of our team to influence how moviegoers experience AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH," the note concludes. "Thank you again for your dedication!"

Fire and Ash is the follow-up to 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water and sees Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) face a new threat: the Magkwan and their violent leader Varang (Oona Chaplin), who's allied herself with Jake's enemy Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Some of the franchise's technical choices, such as the use of high frame rate, continue to be the subject of criticism, but Cameron recently had a straight-to-the-point response. "I think $2.3 billion says you might be wrong on that," he said. "Well, that's the argument from authority. But the argument from artistic is: I happen to like it, and it's my movie."

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. While we wait, fill out your watchlist for 2026 with our guide to the biggest new movie release dates.

Pandora has a new threat in town. While The Way of Water introduced us to the ocean-loving Metkayina, Avatar: Fire and Ash brings us the Mangkwan, a fire-obsessed, war-hungry Na'vi clan.

These Ash People were decimated by a volcanic eruption that destroyed their home, which led to them turning their back on the goddess Eywa, in contrast to the more peaceful Na'vi that Sam Worthington's Jake Sully and Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri have found a home with.

The Mangkwan also have a formidable leader: Oona Chaplin's Varang. Everything about Varang is striking, from her headdress to her shadowy eye makeup to the sinuous way she moves.

"Well, I studied Zoe for the moves, because Zoe is Pandora for me," Chaplin tells us when we meet with her in London. "I would go into the rehearsal room and kind of try and imitate the way that she moved, and then I'd think, because Zoe moves from the heart a lot, it's like, 'Okay, what happens when you close your heart?' Because I know Varang has suffered immense trauma, and so she doesn't trust the world like Neytiri does."

Along with studying Saldaña, Chaplin's costume also contributed to Varang's physicality, with Varang's tight clothing on her top half "almost like a bondage rope around the chest," Chaplin explains. "And then boom, her center of gravity just dropped."

Varang's dual weapons were a factor, too. "And then the buugeng as well were really good help for the movement, because you have to have such precision to get flow, and to turn these solid, dead, inanimate objects into almost like snakes," Chaplin says.

But, while Chaplin might have drawn inspiration from Saldaña behind the scenes, on-screen, it's a very different story. A fierce rivalry emerges between Varang and Neytiri, and the duo clash multiple times.

"Zoe's an incredible sister to women," Chaplin tells us of finding their dynamic. "She is an incredible supporter and advocate for women, and men, but women generally. She's a really good sister, which was such a relief, because you never know what you're gonna get. But she was so encouraging and so uplifting and so generous with me, and so instantly we found a trust, and we also both speak Spanish as a first language. So, we found this place of trust and familiarity that allowed for there to be a lot of intimacy right away.

"And to be adversaries, you need to – it's very intimate to fight with somebody, you know, you get in there. And so, it was cool. And then, we both have a dancing background, so the fight scenes were – in that way, we were kind of dancing together," Chaplin adds. "It was really fun. But the trust, and the trust that was built within the whole cast, actually, is one of the defining features of this working experience for me."

You can see Varang in action when Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to the biggest movie release dates of this year and beyond, or catch up on the previous film with the lowdown on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

James Cameron has responded to criticism of his use of 3D and high frame rate in the Avatar movies – and it's straight to the point.

"I think $2.3 billion says you might be wrong on that," Cameron said in a new interview with Discussing Film. "Well, that's the argument from authority. But the argument from artistic is: I happen to like it, and it's my movie."

Most of Avatar: The Way of Water and its new sequel, Fire and Ash, was shot at 48 frames per second, which is double the usual movie frame rate of 24 frames per second. This makes the scenes in question look particularly smooth.

"I like what it does to smooth out the 3D experience," Cameron elaborated. "If you want to get technical on this, we have a lot of different neurons that do a lot of different things, but we have dedicated neurons for parallax. So when people say they get eye strain watching 3D, it's not eye strain. It's brain strain, because we integrate into a stereoscopic perception of the world in our visual cortex.

"Those parallax-sensitive neurons can't fire if the vertical edges of things are jumping," he continued. "The brain can't process that. So if we're having a stroboscopic effect that's degrading the 3D experience, then we'll use high frame rate. It interpolates to a level that we actually can process 3D and then that brain strain goes away."

Avatar: Fire and Ash takes us back to Pandora a year after the events of The Way of Water. Still living with the Metkayina as they grieve their son Neteyam, Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) find themselves facing a new threat in the form of the Mangkwan, a new, dangerous Na'vi tribe allied with Jake's enemy Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. In the meantime, get up to speed with the biggest upcoming movies to add to your watchlist in 2026.

Avatar: Fire and Ash picks up in the aftermath of The Way of Water, which saw Jake Sully and Neytiri's son, Neteyam, killed.

At a press conference attended by GamesRadar+, director James Cameron reflected on the experience of filming Neteyam's death when asked for a standout memory.

"My mind goes to the day that we shot Neteyam's death, because I know everybody was kind of dreading that. Because I'm a parent. I was a parent when I wrote those scenes, and it's the most inconceivable thing. You guys [Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña] had become parents in the meantime, between the first and second film," Cameron said. "And, of course, that's the event that powers so much of what happens in Fire and Ash, the ash of grief, as Lo'ak says, as the new storyteller, taking the baton from Jake."

After discussing his memories of filming the moment itself, Cameron explained how this loss directly affects what's to come in Avatar 3. "That event, now you have to play through the aftermath of that in Fire and Ash, and what that means to your characters, to the other kids who were there, who witnessed it, or living with the aftermath of it." Cameron said.

"And I think that I'm proud of what you guys created in the new film, in terms of working through that process," he continued. "You say it's a movie about grief. Yeah, it's a movie about grief. It's a movie about loss, it's a movie about trauma, and it's a movie about how you heal, and how you go forward, and how you pick up your pack and you march on, and how you break the cycle of violence that is created by the hatred that comes from that loss. And we're seeing that playing out in the world today."

Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters from December 19. In the meantime, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies of 2025 and beyond.

Sci-fi legend Sigourney Weaver will soon be back as her Na'vi character Kiri when Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters imminently.

Kiri is a teenager adopted by Jake Sully and Neytiri, and she's the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi Avatar – hence Weaver returning to play her, after originally playing Augustine in the first film.

Of course, this is far from the first collaboration between Weaver and director James Cameron. Along with Avatar and The Way of Water, both also collaborated on Aliens, Cameron's '86 sequel.

"It's been one of the greatest gifts to work with James Cameron again and again and again," Weaver said at an Avatar: Fire and Ash press conference attended by GamesRadar+. "I have to say that becoming a 14-year-old and getting back into that space, which for me was a challenging time, I'm so grateful that I know from the beginning that Jim has children, and this is also inspired by his life. And he loves his actors, and he gives us such a feeling of safety and encouragement in exploring every aspect of a scene.

"We have a lot of fun," she continued. "On Aliens, we didn't really have fun because we were really up against it, but that wasn't our fault."

At this point, Cameron chimed in: "It was less fun, trust me." Weaver continued: "But a great movie, nevertheless. And to have the opportunity to come back and work with Jim again and again, it's just been the greatest artistic present, and it was always my greatest goal, even when I started out, was to work with the same people again and again. I just thought that sounded nice and normal. And, of course, we're not in a normal world, but I feel so safe that I was able to not play a teenager, but really find my teenager again. And so thank you."

Cameron had high praise for Weaver, too. "You did it. When you walked into the Volume where we capture, you just were younger in spirit, in movement, and everything," he said. "I don't even know how aware of that you were. And, of course, you weren't playing somebody who was having a happy teenage life. You were remembering and sort of re-channeling a tough time in your life, but you were younger. I don't mean like two years younger. I mean like 40 years younger. It was amazing."

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of this year and beyond.

Avatar: Fire and Ash has been shown to two of its stars – and it looks like they had a seriously emotional time.

Jack Champion, who plays human child Spider, shared a picture of himself and his co-star Trinity Bliss, who plays Na'vi child Tuktirey (AKA Tuk), after watching the threequel. Both actors are visibly red-eyed and look as if they've been crying quite a bit.

"Our faces after watching Avatar: Fire and Ash for the first time," Champion wrote in the caption. "Can't wait to share this film with the world Dec. 19"

The Way of Water ended with the death of Netayam, Jake Sully and Neytiri's eldest son. That was a huge tearjerker, so we can only imagine what's in store for us with Fire and Ash.

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in just a few weeks. So far, the film is tracking to open slightly lower than The Way of Water at the domestic box office, though it still seems primed to make a lot of money.

Director James Cameron has indicated that he's ready to walk away from the franchise if the threequel doesn't perform, however. "Absolutely," he said recently. "I've been in Avatar land for 20 years. Actually, 30 years, because I wrote it in '95, right, but I wasn't working continuously on it for those first 10 years. There was a brief flurry of interest in '95, and then everybody said, 'You're out of your mind,' and I shelved it for 10 years, and then we got serious in 2005. Yeah, absolutely. Sure, if this is where it ends, cool."

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives this December 19. In the meantime, fill out your watchlist with our guide to all the upcoming movies of 2025 and beyond.

James Cameron says his first post-Avatar 3 outing won't be Ghosts of Hiroshima after all.

"I have 10 other projects," Cameron said on The Town with Matt Belloni. "That one just sort of hit the headlines briefly because of the book announcement and trying to push the book to a best seller because the author is a friend of mine. Doesn't mean I'm not going to make the film, but I've written the script, and it's not slated right now, and I don't even have a distribution partner on it. So it's pretty much a vaporware project right now."

Earlier this year, Cameron told Discussing Film's Andrew J. Salazar that "this might be the most challenging film" he'll ever make. Cameron bought the rights to the book in 2024, with the book releasing this past August. The non-fiction book, which chronicles the story of survivors of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear disasters, was written by Avatar: The Way of Water and Titanic advisor Charles Pellegrino. If the film goes ahead, the story will center on Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who escaped Hiroshima only to board a train to Nagasaki just before it was bombed (via Jake's Takes).

Cameron does have a lot on his plate, what with Avatar 3 hitting theaters in December, Avatar 4 and 5... though we don't know yet if he'll direct the final two films in the franchise. There's also been talk of Camera writing another Terminator movie (though I'm not sure we need one after Terminator 6 completely retconned John Connor, rendering Sarah Connor's mission in Terminator 2: Judgement Day completely obsolete).

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19. For more, check our lists of upcoming movies and movie release dates.

James Cameron has revealed that Disney boss Bob Iger had some high praise for Avatar: Fire and Ash – and he even defended it against other feedback.

Fire and Ash is the upcoming third film in Cameron's epic sci-fi series, which will take us back to Pandora for a new adventure involving the Ash People.

"He's interesting. He doesn't weigh in until it's something for me to show," Cameron said on The Town podcast.

When asked if Iger wanted the runtime to be 3 hours and 15 minutes, Cameron explained: "No, his comment when he watched the film for the first time, even though it was at 3 hours, 23 minutes, not including credits at that point, so it's gotten about 20 minutes shorter, or 18 minutes shorter since then. He said, 'Yeah, I know you're going to keep chopping away at it.' He said, 'But it's magnificent. It's magnificent.' He basically said, 'I love this film.' And it was interesting, because there were other heads on the Zoom that were bringing up notes. And he said, 'Yeah, you know, I didn't have a problem with that.' And he basically shot them down on their notes. And I was like, 'Okay, we're done here.'"

The Avatar: Fire and Ash runtime clocks in at 3 hours and 15 minutes according to AMC, which includes credits. That's longer than The Way of Water, which runs for 3 hours and 12 minutes.

"I haven't read Avatar 5 in seven or eight or nine years now, I have a folk memory of it. I know [Avatar 4] a bit better. But when you work on these things, you can get confused about what you know about; what happens and when it happens," Stephen Lang, who plays Quaritch in the movies, told GamesRadar+ recently.

"On the day, as we prepare to get deeply back into Avatar 4 and 5, I'll be completely up to speed – and there's not one scene that I don't look forward to playing. I always love going to work in this, in that role. You know, I love putting on that performance capture suit, and getting down to it."

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of the year for everything else that's on the way.

James Cameron says that although he almost directed Jurassic Park, the best man won and Steven Spielberg was the right person to helm the family-friendly classic.

"He was the right guy to make it," Cameron said in a new interview with Empire magazine. "Not me, because I would have made it too terrifying and R-rated. It would have been Aliens with dinosaurs."

Back in 2012, Cameron revealed that he tried to buy the book rights to Michael Crichton's novel, but Spielberg beat him to it by a few hours. Released in 1993, Spielberg's blockbuster launched a franchise that most recently gave us this year's Jurassic World Rebirth. Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum starred as a group of scientists visiting a dinosaur theme park that isn't quite as safe as its billionaire owner insists.

Instead, Cameron directed the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led actioner True Lies, which was released in 1994.

Next up for Cameron is Avatar 3, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash. The next installment in his sci-fi epic franchise sees Jake, Neytiri, and their family come up against a new threat: the Ash People, a dangerous, volcano-dwelling Na'vi clan led by the ruthless Varang.

New additions to the cast include Game of Thrones' Oona Chaplin as Varang and David Thewlis as Peylak, the Na'vi leader of the Wind Traders.

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other biggest upcoming movies still on the way in 2025 (and beyond).

Everyone knows how much of an avid Avatar fan legendary director Guillermo del Toro is, so much so that the Frankenstein filmmaker has seen Avatar 3, and has big praise for James Cameron's threequel.

"I’ve seen the three Avatars. They are absolute masterpieces. I know where it’s going and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people," said del Toro in an interview with Konbini Video, aka France’s version of the Criterion Closet.

"I can’t say anything about [the third], but I can say there are very few Americans who have created an entire mythology," said del Toro of Cameron. "You have [George] Lucas. You have the entire ‘Wizard of Oz’ mythology with Frank Baum. Jim is creating that with Avatar, and he’s going to take you places."

Cameron's Avatar 3, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, will take fans back to Pandora, where Na’vi leader Jake Sully (SamWorthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family have been living with the Metkayina Clan after the events of Avatar: The Way of the Water. But when they encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe called the Ash People, Sully meets his new antagonist, Varang, who has joined forces with his long-time enemy, Quaritch.

But the story won't stop there, as Cameron has already started working on Avatar 4 and 5, which have already set release dates in 2029 and 2031. Avatar 3 also stars Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, and more.

However, Cameron is not the only director to have built worlds this year, as del Toro's newest movie, Frankenstein, breathes new life into Mary Shelley's iconic novel. Del Toro's take focuses on generational trauma, shame, and identity, whereas the novel tends to focus on ethics and morality.

Starring Oscar Isaac as the narcissistic and destructive Victor Frankenstein, the new movie retells the story of a creator and his monstrous creation, the Creature, played by Jacob Elordi. In an interview with GamesRadar+, Elordi said, "It definitely highlights the personal over the scientific… To me, it's a biography of Guillermo's."

Avatar: Fire and Ash releases this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of the year to fill out your watchlist.

A new trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash has arrived – and things are heating up for Jake Sully and co.

In the brief clip, which can be viewed below, the stunning and haunting Varang (Oona Chaplin) explains the origin of the Ash People, a fire-based Na'vi clan, and how they were wiped out by wildfire. Varang mentions that Eywa, the figure that the N'avi worship and believe in, did not come to their aid. Elsewhere in the trailer, we see Pandora lit ablaze as Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) prepare for battle against the Ash People.

Fire and Ash is set one year after the events of The Way of Water, as Jake and his family grapple with grief after Neteyam's death. Per the official synopsis, they "encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe called the Ash People, led by the fiery tribe leader, Varang, who has allied with Jake's enemy, Quaritch, as the conflict on Pandora escalates to devastating consequences."

The cast includes Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Stephen Lang as Quaritch, Kate Winslet as Ronal, Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore, and Jermaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin.

If you're curious about runtime, James Cameron previously stated that Avatar: Fire and Ash will be "a bit longer" than Avatar: The Way of Water, which has a runtime of 3 hours and 12 minutes.

Avatar 4 and 5 are also on the way, the latter of which is set for a 2031 release date, if you can even believe it.

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19, 2025. Avatar 4 is set to hit theaters in 2029. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, skip ahead to our complete list of movie release dates.

Josh Brolin has recently spoken out about the roles that came his way and that he let fly right past him, with one in particular being part of a project that ended up making a truckload of money. During his appearance on The Happy Sad Confused podcast, in which he admitted to wanting to return to the MCU as Infinity Stone obsessive, Thanos, Brolin also revealed that James Cameron offered him the gig of Pandora-loathing bad guy, Colonel Miles Quatrich, in the Avatar films.

While not naming specifically the character he was considered for, Brolin did confirm the star who got the part, instead. “It was Stephen Lang,” Brolin explained, who plays the franchise's big bad. “Who I knew, and I was very happy for him. He’s amazing in it. So, it happened exactly as it should have. I’m a big believer in things happen like they should.”

Brolin has spoken openly about how he almost had a close encounter with the Na'vi, only to pass on the offer, much to the frustration of the director. In 2024, on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the Oscar-nominated actor explained, “I heard he was angry. I understand it, because when you have something in your mind and you have a status and a power… you’re used to people feeling really grateful that you are offering it to them.”

Regardless of what had come down the grapevine, though, Brolin made it clear his reasons for not wanting to be involved. “I don’t know if that’s the case with him because I don’t know him well enough. But it was based on the [project]. It wasn’t based on him.”

There were a few other names that Cameron eyed for his epic space saga that didn't join the fold on the first round. Matt Damon famously joked about passing on playing Jake Sully before it went to Sam Worthington, saying, "I will go down in history. You will never meet an actor who turned down more money." James Cameron, however, advised the man, who could've been Olo'eykta, to get over it. Well, really, what's a few billion dollars between roles, right?

As for Brolin, you can see him in Weapons, which is out this weekend. Head here for our full review of Zach Cregger's new horror.

Terminator director James Cameron thinks that life may start to imitate art, sooner or later, and AI is one of our biggest "existential threats."

"I do think there’s still a danger of a Terminator-style apocalypse where you put AI together with weapons systems, even up to the level of nuclear weapon systems, nuclear defense counterstrike, all that stuff," Cameron said in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

"Because the theater of operations is so rapid, the decision windows are so fast, it would take a superintelligence to be able to process it, and maybe we’ll be smart and keep a human in the loop. But humans are fallible, and there have been a lot of mistakes made that have put us right on the brink of international incidents that could have led to nuclear war."

The Terminator was released back in 1984 and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose unborn son will go on to save humanity from the AI superintelligence system Skynet. "I warned you guys in 1984!" Cameron previously said of the rise of AI. "And you didn’t listen."

He continued, "I feel like we’re at this cusp in human development where you’ve got the three existential threats: climate and our overall degradation of the natural world, nuclear weapons, and superintelligence. They’re all sort of manifesting and peaking at the same time. Maybe the superintelligence is the answer. I don’t know. I’m not predicting that, but it might be."

Next up for Cameron is Avatar 3, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, which will reportedly open with an anti-AI title card. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña return as Jake Sully and Neytiri, and this time around their family is facing a new foe: the Ash People, an aggressive Na'vi tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin) and allied with Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. For more, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest upcoming movies.

James Cameron is about to become the highest-grossing director of all time, but even he thinks he "might not be up to the task" of making his next movie after Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Speaking to Discussing Film's Andrew J. Salazar about his upcoming adaptation of Ghosts of Hiroshima, which charts the story of survivors of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, Cameron said, "To me, this might be the most challenging film I ever make. I don't 100% have my strategy fully in place for how I want to see it; how I want to shield people from the horror but still be honest; how I can find some kind of poetry, beauty, or spiritual epiphany in it somehow – which I know must be there. It's there in every human story."

"It's going to be very challenging," Cameron reiterated. "I might not even be up to the task, but that never stopped me before."

Cameron bought the rights to Ghosts of Hiroshima – written by Charles Pellegrino, who advised the director on Titanic and Avatar – last year.

In a separate interview with Jake's Takes, Cameron again remained humble in the face of telling its story, including the real-life tragedy of engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who was returning home to see his family in Hiroshima. Upon escaping the blast, he boarded a train to Nagasaki just before it, too, was bombed.

"I only hope that I know enough as a filmmaker to do this subject justice. I know how to do the visual effects – the issue is how to tell this as a human story and, yet, be truthful to what happened, to the horrific aspect of it," Cameron said.

While Ghosts of Hiroshima is undated, the rest of Cameron's releases are already on the calendar. Avatar: Fire and Ash, which just received its first trailer, is out on December 19, 2025. If it grosses $2 billion, it will see Cameron overtake Steven Spielberg as the highest-grossing director in history.

Avatar 4 and 5 hit cinemas on December 21, 2029 and December 19, 2031 respectively. Cameron has even indicated he would be prepared to direct the final two films in the series, despite previously suggesting otherwise.

For more, you'll need our guide to upcoming movies and movie release dates.

Avatar director James Cameron wants to make an animated anthology series that fills in some of the gaps between the franchise's movies, and he's already pitched it to Disney.

"I said, ‘Look, I want to do an animated anthology series that's essentially in the world, but stories that you wouldn't have expected from that world'", Cameron told Empire. "There might even be an animated feature in there – it might be a feature for streaming, or a theatrical feature."

He continued, "A good early example is The Animatrix, where they went afield in the Matrix world. These are all great examples for how we can add texture and baroque detail to the world of Avatar."

The first Avatar movie was released in 2009 and a sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, followed in 2022. The series is set on the fictional moon of Pandora, inhabited by the Na'vi, which is being mined for a valuable mineral by human colonizers in order to fuel a dying planet Earth. Sam Worthington stars as Jake Sully, a human who chooses to permanently stay in his Na'vi avatar after falling in love with the Na'vi princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the pair are raising a family in The Way of Water.

Cameron said the animated stories could deliver "backstory on characters and tangential stuff that happened off-camera within the movies. Who first landed on Pandora? The first expedition. You could go anywhere you want."

"We haven't done much with that yet," he added. "We're still gathering our stories and that sort of thing, and I've got to find the boutique filmmakers, the animators, that want to do it."

Avatar 3, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, is on the way, which sees Jake and Neytiri face new obstacles after settling with the coastal-dwelling Metkayina clan: the Ash People, an aggressive Na'vi tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin) – and allied with Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to this year's other biggest upcoming movies.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is still a few months away, but the first official trailer is finally being unveiled this weekend on the big screen. This highly anticipated first look will play exclusively before The Fantastic Four: First Steps screenings, and will be available to watch online at a later date.

In the meantime, the first reactions from journalists are already in, and they are already predicting that this will be the "biggest movie of 2025."

"Got to see the AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH trailer early. Nothing else to say but it looks every bit as spectacular as the previous films. Darker vibes to everything plus a tantalising glimpse of the antagonist Varang. Ready to return to Pandora in December," wrote Doug Jamieson on X (@itsdougjam).

"I have seen the trailer for #AVATAR Fire and Ash, and it is as stunning as anyone is anticipating," shared Austin Burke (@theBurk3nator). "James Cameron once again looks to be unleashing a powerful story that will resonate, and the visuals are (somehow) on another level. There is no doubt in my mind that this WILL be the biggest movie of 2025, and epic doesn’t feel like it does this trailer justice… It is truly beyond epic. THE HYPE IS REAL."

More reactions praise the "stunning visuals, giving us glimpses of the new volcanic environments", and they point at a vibe shift for the threequel, as "the world of Pandora feels darker and meaner, more aggressive" in this new movie. Other journalists are also praising Oona Chaplin’s performance as Varang, who "carves a compelling antagonist for Jake and Neytiri".

You can read some of the most notable reactions so far below.

The multi-billion-dollar franchise is finally back, and things are about to change for Jake and Neytiri's family. Avatar: Fire and Ash is set to introduce the "Ash People," a fire-based Na'vi clan, also known as the Mangkwan Clan, and which is led by Oona Chaplin's Varang.

The cast includes Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, joined by Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Giovanni Ribisi, Edie Falco, and Jermaine Clement.

Hopefully we'll get more details about the plot from the trailer. For now, Cameron has previously stated that Avatar: Fire and Ash will be "a bit longer" than the previous film, which was already over three hours.

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19, 2025. Avatar 4 is set to hit theaters in 2029. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, skip ahead to our complete list of movie release dates.

Should your knowledge of Pandora's history be a little sketchy before the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, worry not, as it's been officially announced that Avatar: The Way of Water is set for re-release to provide a refresher on the adventures of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).

The film that earned over $2 billion at the box office is set to make a few more extra pennies with the announcement that it will return to theaters on October 3, 2025, for a "One-week limited engagement." Honestly, it shouldn't come as a shock with James Cameron's franchise, considering that the first Avatar film had re-releases leading up to the arrival of The Way of Water. What's interesting is whether, with the second film making a brief comeback, any secret extras will be added alongside it.

Given how close the film will be re-released to Fire and Ash (which is set for release on December 19, 2025), fans already speculate that Cameron might be kind enough to give us a lengthy look at the impending threequel that promises to be even more explosive and action-packed than the first two films. Well, the clue is in the title, after all.

Following the events of The Way of Water, Jake's family is left in tatters after the death of their eldest son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters). The next chapter in the Avatar story will introduce our heroes to the Mangkwan clan, or "Ash People," led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), who aren't as friendly to Jake as other tribes have been in the past. As Cameron told Empire about the new instalment, "One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic. We're trying to evolve beyond the 'all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good' paradigm."

You'll have to see if we get a peek behind the curtain at what's in store with the Avatar franchise on October 3 when Avatar: The Way of Water returns. In the meantime, why not reminisce over the director's career highlights and check out James Cameron's best moments here.

The Avatar: Fire and Ash trailer screened behind closed doors at CinemaCon, and those lucky enough to see it were blown away.

According to Gizmodo, the footage shows a fiery, mid-air battle between the Wind Traders and the Ash people, with the Ash tribe shooting flaming arrows and burning the Wind Traders' vessels. It also looks like the Ash people side with Quaritch and the other humans, while the trailer ends with a showdown between Neytiri and the Ash people's leader.

"First footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash was pure James Cameron wow. Some slow, calm, beauty shots of the wind tribe. Lots of vibrant, intense stuff with the fire tribe. Culminates in battle on floating rocks in the middle of some disaster. Just massive stuff," said Gizmodo's Germain Lussier.

"First impressions of #AvatarFireAndAsh James Cameron unleashes jaw-dropping visuals, breathtaking action sequences, and epic battles on a whole new scale. The Ash People emerge as a fierce and awe-inspiring tribe that commands every frame they're in. This looks amazing!" says The Movie Podcast's Anthony Gagliardi.

"Avatar Fire & Ash features two new tribes. The footage we saw had amazing aerial sequences, underwater, beautiful nighttime shots, a volcano Jake being peak dad and Tulkun sighting. Absolutely cannot wait to be back at Pandora," says Off Screen Central's Kenzie Vanunu.

Director James Cameron also appeared via video, since he's busy finishing the third movie in New Zealand as we speak, and teased “increased emotional heart and soul" in the threequel (H/T The Hollywood Reporter).

Avatar 3 arrives this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies of the year to get planning your theater trips.

Director Michael Bay has shared that he and James Cameron have been discussing the state of the movie industry.

"I just had a conference call with Jim Cameron and we were both commiserating about Hollywood," Bay told The Hollywood Reporter. "No one can greenlight anything anymore. It's just so slow. It's a very different business.

"During Armageddon, those were the days," he continued, referring to his '98 disaster movie. "We had Jonathan Hensleigh, the writer. We sat down for two or three weeks. We had the NASA guy come into my office. We worked out this 20-minute pitch. We go into [former Walt Disney Chairman] Joe Roth's office. This would be my third movie. And Joe, he's like a real old time, cool studio executive. He goes, 'That's going to be my July 4th movie. I want to name it Armageddon.' We walk out and we're looking at each other. 'Did he just greenlight that movie?' That doesn't happen now. But that's how it used to happen."

Both Bay and Cameron are legendary directors in their own right, so if even they are thinking times are tough, then it's a pretty good indicator of how much the industry has changed over the past few decades.

Bay is debuting his new parkour documentary We Are Storror at SXSW Film Festival, while next up for Cameron is Avatar 3, which he recently confirmed "will actually be a little bit longer" than Avatar: The Way of Water.

Avatar 3, titled Fire and Ash, arrives this December 19. In the meantime, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies of the year.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is out now. The third film in the sci-fi saga sees the Sully family come to terms with the death of eldest son, Neteyam, in The Way of Water, and face-to-face with a new threat: fire-obsessed Na'vi known as the Ash People.

One of the biggest films of 2025, Fire and Ash is the third installment in director James Cameron's planned 5-film saga. Avatar 4's fate depends on Fire and Ash's box office performance, but if the next chapter does get the greenlight, we've got a long wait ahead of us: Avatar 4 is currently set to release on December 21, 2029.

But for the time being, you'll find everything there is to know about Avatar: Fire and Ash below, including what the reviews say, who's in the cast, and exactly what goes down in the epic film. This is one of the best sci-fi movies of the year, but at 3 hours and 17 minutes long, there's a lot to remember, so head below to make sure you're up to speed.

Avatar: Fire and Ash release date

Avatar: Fire and Ash was released in theaters on December 19, 2025.

That's a mere three years after Avatar: The Way of Water – a blink of an eye compared to the 13 years between the original Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

If the planned fourth film goes ahead, we'll have a slightly longer wait ahead of us, with Avatar 4 currently set to hit cinemas on December 21, 2029, a full four years after Avatar: Fire and Ash. That film is set to shake things up in a major way, not least by giving the film a surprising new narrator.

Avatar: Fire and Ash reviews

Avatar: Fire and Ash debuted to mixed-positive reviews, but is currently the lowest-rated Avatar movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus is that, while "the visuals are stunning, the action… dynamic" repetitive story beats and locations mean that "a certain sameness has set in".

Our own Avatar: Fire and Ash review says much the same: "The most action-packed Avatar yet still has the capacity to dazzle, with Oona Chaplin's Varang turning up the heat. Though a frustrating lack of resolution and some repetitive storytelling choices make this feel more like The Way of Water part 2."

Avatar: Fire and Ash trailer

We finally got an Avatar: Fire and Ash first trailer on July 28, and it was as spectacular as we were expecting. The footage played exclusively before Fantastic Four screenings during the Marvel film's release weekend, but it was released only a few days later. You can watch it above.

In the trailer, we reunite with Jake and Neytiri's family, which seems more fractured than ever. Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are dealing with grief, but they will have to deal with planet-changing problems in Pandora. The images offer a glimpse into an incoming Na'vi war, where the "Ash People," a fire-based Na'vi clan also known as the Mangkwan Clan, will be key.

A second trailer, released in September (and which you can watch above), gives us a better insight into the tragic history of the Ash People and their disillusionment with the deity Eywa, as well as showing Pandora ablaze as Jake and Neytiri prepare for battle.

In November 2025, the first footage from the movie has been released. The tense clip, which clocks in at just over a minute long, shows Spider, Tuk, Kiri, and Lo'ak being chased through the forest and into some dangerous-looking rapids by Varang and an army of Ash People. "What does dad always say?" Lo'ak asks Tuk. "Sullys stick together," she replies. "No, the other one," he presses. "Sullys never quit?" she asks. Bingo.

Avatar: Fire and Ash plot

Clocking in at a whopping 197 minutes, there's a whole lot that goes down in Avatar: Fire and Ash. Picking up shortly after the events of The Way of Water, we learn that youngest Sully son, Lo'ak, is wracked with guilt over the death of his older brother, Neteyam, and visits him in the Spirit World. Even more grief-stricken is Neytiri, who is still in mourning and more resentful than ever of humanity's presence on Pandora.

This includes their adopted human son Spider, revealed to be the biological son of Quaritch in The Way of Water. After a near-fatal incident involving Spider's breathing mask, Jake and Neytiri decide to send Spider away to live with the relocated Omatikaya Clan, including RDA defectors Norm and Dr. Max Patel. To do so, they stow away with the nomadic Wind Traders aboard their blimp-like flying vessels. But when the convoy is attacked by the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang, the Sullys are grounded and separated.

Neytiri is injured after taking an arrow through her shoulder, and taken to the Omatikaya to heal. Meanwhile, Lo'ak, Kiri, Spider and Tuk are spotted by the Mangkwan and pursued. They lose their trail, but Spider runs out of oxygen and starts to suffocate. Kiri saves his life by calling on Eywa, who drastically alters Spider's physiology so the Pandoran air is no longer poisonous to him. The Sully kids are caught by the Mangkwan, but are rescued by Jake and Quaritch, who form a temporary alliance to save their shared son.

After returning to the Metkayina's coastal village, it's revealed that rebel whale Payakan has been exiled by the Tulkun elders for committing forbidden acts of violence against human interlopers. Lo'ak is dismayed at losing another brother, and pursues him across the ocean, almost dying during a deadly Tsyong attack. Payakan learns that his entire family has been wiped out by Scoresby and his Tulkun hunters, bar one, grievously injured Tulkun, and returns with Lo'ak to appeal to the elders.

Quaritch, meanwhile, resorts to desperate measures to capture Jake. Allying himself with Varang and the Ash People, he arms them with RDA weapons – including flame throwers and explosives – in return for Varang's ability to locate Jake. After capturing Spider, Quaritch and Varang descend on Awa'atlu with an army behind them. Jake willingly goes with Quaritch as a prisoner to avoid any bloodshed, and is taken to the RDA's city stronghold, where his capture is headline news.

Jake is due to be executed, and Spider potentially dissected so that the RDA can reverse engineer his ability to breathe the air on Pandora. Neytiri arrives in the nick of time on her banshee and saves them both, with an assist from Jemaine Clement's marine biologist Dr. Garvin, who has a crisis of conscience over Scoresby's plan to murder dozens of Tulkun at once during a gathering due to take place in a matter of days.

After almost ending Spider's life themselves to keep his dangerous secret away from the RDA, Jake and Neytiri prepare for war. Jake calls upon the Great Leonopteryx and, as Toruk Makto, unites the nearby clans ready for battle. Payakan is even able to persuade the pacifist Tulkun elders to join the fray. When the RDA attack, the battle is initially one-sided, with the Na'vi and Tulkun dominating. But the arrival of the Ash People – armed with deadly weapons – turns the tide.

All seems hopeless until Kiri is able to reach Eywa for the first time in the spirit world, with the help of Spider and Tuk, and directs Pandora's wildlife to take down the RDA. Ronal dies, but not before Neytiri helps her give birth to her child. Neytiri and Tuk are captured by Varang shortly after. The remaining Sullys convene on the ship where Neytiri and Tuk are being held, but it's Kiri who eventually saves them, turning Varang's ability to dominate other Na'vi by connecting their tendril-like braids (aka queues) together against her, and causing Varang to flee.

Jake, Sully and Spider are raised into the sky by a magnetic field, and fight atop floating rocks. Spider shoots Quaritch through the arm with a crossbow, evening the odds after Jake's leg was injured during the battle. Spider gets too close to the skirmish, and is almost knocked over the edge to his death, but is saved by Quaritch and Jake, who pulls them both to safety. When the remaining Sullys arrive, Quaritch jumps off the side to fight another day.

The film ends with Kiri taking Spider to the Tree of Souls in the Spirit World to meet their ancestors, including the fallen heroes of previous films like Dr Grace Augustine, where he is accepted as one of their own.

Avatar: Fire and Ash cast

The Avatar: Fire and Ash cast is a mix of returning actors and newcomers:

• Sam Worthington – Jake Sully
• Zoe Saldaña – Neytiri
• Sigourney Weaver – Kiri
• Britain Dalton – Lo'ak
• Trinity Jo-Li Bliss – Tuktirey
• Jack Champion – Spider
• Kate Winslet – Ronal
• Cliff Curtis – Tonowari
• Bailey Bass – Tsireya
• Filip Geljo – Ao'nung
• Duane Evans Jr. – Rotxo
• CCH Pounder – Mo'at
• David Thewlis – Peylak
• Oona Chaplin – Varang
• Joel David Moore – Dr. Norm Spellman
• Stephen Lang – Colonel Miles Quaritch
• Giovanni Ribisi – Parker Selfridge
• Edie Falco – General Frances Ardmore
• Brendan Cowell – Captain Mick Scoresby
• Jemaine Clement – Dr. Ian Garvin
• Dileep Rao – Dr. Max Patel
• Matt Gerald – Corporal Lyle Wainfleet

That's a wrap on Avatar: Fire and Ash. For more, check out our guide to this year's major upcoming movie release dates to fill out your watchlist.

Avatar 3 is going to take us beyond the moral paradigm seen in the franchise so far, director James Cameron has teased.

A new look at the Ash People, AKA the Mangkwan Clan, has also been revealed by Empire magazine, which depicts their leader Varang, played by Oona Chaplin. Check it out below.

"Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She's hardened by that," Cameron told the magazine. "She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil."

"One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic," he added. "We're trying to evolve beyond the 'all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good' paradigm."

Cameron has previously teased that the Ash People won't be all that nice, and we can expect in Avatar 3 to see "different cultures from those I have already shown. The fire will be represented by the 'Ash People.' I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides.

"In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na'vi examples," he continued. "In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite. We will also explore new worlds, while continuing 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."

Avatar 3 will release on December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies of the year to get planning your theater trips.

Avatar: The Way of Water was a blockbuster epic that blew us – and the box office – away when it debuted back in 2022, so it should be no surprise that the sequels sound to be just as impressive. 

Zoe Saldaña, who plays Neytiri in the movies, shared a tease about the upcoming sequels with Collider, and it has us very hyped. 

"It's going to be amazing," she revealed. "Avatar 3, it's going to be amazing, and Avatar 4 and 5, it just gets crazy. It's true. It really does. He's blown our mind. This is his legacy project. We all thought it was Titanic, and it turned out that Avatar is his legacy, and for us to be a part of something so groundbreaking and trailblazing, it's like it's a legacy for us, too. So I'm excited to go back. We go back to work next week, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone."

Unfortunately, the Avatar sequels have been subject to a series of delays, so Avatar 3 isn't arriving until December 19, 2025. Avatar 4, meanwhile, is coming on December 29, 2029, and Avatar 5 is slated for December 19, 2031. That's a seriously long wait, but, judging by Saldaña's words, it'll be worth it. 

Back before The Way of Water released, Cameron teased that Avatar 3 will feature a new type of Na'vi. "The fire will be represented by the 'Ash People.' I want to show the Na'vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides," he teased. 

While you wait for Avatar 3, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything the year has in store.

James Cameron has shared some new updates about Avatar 3 – and the film sounds wild in the best possible way. 

Speaking to People, Cameron revealed that the threequel would feature a major time skip. "We did the capture on three and the live-action photography on three as an intermingled production with [Avatar: The Way of Water], and we even did part of movie four because our young characters are all going to have a big time jump in movie four," Cameron said. 

He added: "We see them and then we go away for six years and we come back. And so the part where we come back is the part we haven't shot yet. So we'll start on that after three is released."

While Avatar 3 is introducing a new type of Na'vi, it will also feature plenty of familiar faces. One of those is Kate Winslet's Ronal. It seems we should never doubt Winslet's dedication to a role, as, after learning to hold her breath for over seven minutes for Avatar 2, she immersed herself in her character once more for the threequel. 

According to Cameron, Winslet "went to school" to learn from "a husband and wife shaman practice," so she could study techniques for the third movie. "When you see her [Winslet] doing that purification ritual to try to revive Kitty in the film and some of the stuff that she's going to do in movie three, that's based on actual practice," he commented. 

We were already excited to head back to Pandora, but now we're even more excited about what Cameron has in store for us. 

Avatar 3 arrives on December 19, 2025. It doesn't yet have a title, with producer Jon Landau debunking a popular rumor about its official name. 

While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything else the year has in store. 

Avatar producer Jon Landau has debunked a long-running rumor about the title of the upcoming threequel. 

Back in 2018, BBC News revealed that the four Avatar sequels would be titled: The Way of Water, The Seed Bearer, The Tulkun Rider, and The Quest for Eywa. Obviously, The Way of Water proved correct – and Tulkuns feature heavily in the movie. Director James Cameron also told ET back in 2019 that the leaked titles "are among titles that are in consideration. And no final decisions have been made yet."

It's understandable, then, that many thought Avatar 3 would be titled The Seed Bearer. According to producer Jon Landau, though, that's not the case. 

"I'm qualified to tell you that that is not the title for Avatar 3," Landau told ComicBook.com at an Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora event. "That's what my Wikipedia page says? That is getting changed tonight!" 

Avatar 3 is set to arrive on December 19, 2025, which is quite the lengthy wait. For now, not much is known about the threequel, either, although it has been revealed that it will feature a new type of Na'vi: Ash People. 

"In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na'vi examples," director James Cameron said back in December 2022. "In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite. We will also explore new worlds, while continuing 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. But, obviously, everything will depend on how Avatar 2 is received, if it finds its audience."

Avatar 2 more than found its audience, going on to gross over $2 billion and becoming the third highest grossing movie of all time (behind Avengers: Endgame and the original Avatar).

While you wait for Avatar 3, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates to start planning your theater trips.  

The third installment of director James Cameron’s smash hit Avatar is finally in post-production, but it looks like there's a long road ahead before we get to return to Pandora again. 

At an industry conference in New Zealand documented by 1News, Cameron revealed what stage Avatar 3 is at. "We’re into a very hectic 2 years of post-production right now," the director confirmed. "So it will be Christmas of 2025.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Avatar 3, which was originally set to hit theatres in December 2024, had been moved on a year to December 2025. The fourth and fifth movies have also been moved on three years each, meaning that the series will continue until 2031 at the earliest. 

The news came as a bit of a shock as fans were expecting the third movie sooner since it was filmed alongside the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. However, Disney did not give a reason for the delay. The good news is that the production team now has two whole years to focus on the stellar CGI and SFX we have come to expect from the Avatar movies, although judging by Cameron's "hectic" comment, the road to the finish line may not be so smooth. 

The upcoming movie remains untitled, but we do know that it will introduce two new Na'vi cultures including a fire tribe, just as the first movie focuses on the forest-dwelling Na'vi known as the Omaticaya and the second film looks at the Metkayina tribe who live on Pandora's coast.

Avatar 3 is set to hit theatres on December 19, 2025. Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water are both available to stream on Disney Plus right now. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way in 2023 and beyond. 

James Cameron's 1989 sci-fi thriller The Abyss is getting a special 4K theatrical re-release.

The filmmaker took to social media to announce that the film has been remastered in 4K, and is set to hit theaters in December. "If you haven't seen the film before, this is the way to experience it," Cameron said. "And if you have, you'll be seeing the film I actually set out to make." The re-release will contain some "big surprises" not seen in the original release version.

The Abyss, Cameron's first ocean-centered film, follows a US search and recovery team tasked with recovering an American submarine in a race against Soviet vessels. Down in the depths of the ocean, however, they find something else entirely. The cast includes Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio formerly married petroleum engineers and Michael Biehn as a gung-ho Navy SEAL. Leo Burmester, Todd Graff, Kimberly Scott, John Bedford Lloyd, and Chris Elliot also star. Alan Silvestri (Predator, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Avengers) provided the score.

The film hit theaters on August 9, 1989, and grossed $90 million against a budget of $43 million. After a reportedly troubled production that included 70-hour filming weeks on an isolated set, The Abyss would go on to receive four Oscar nominations, including Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, and take home the 1990 Oscar for Best Visual Effects. 

The Abyss: Special Edition is set to hit theaters on December 6. For more, check out our list of the most exciting movies coming in 2023 and beyond.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that James Cameron wasn't really a fan of his Terminator 2 ideas. 

Speaking at a panel ahead of an Academy Museum of Motion Pictures screening of Terminator 2, Schwarzenegger shared that he had his own thoughts on where his character should head in the Terminator sequel. 

"The reason why it became a big hit was, number one, Jim Cameron. Jim Cameron is a genius writer. He came up with this brilliant idea, even though at the beginning I was suspicious," Schwarzenegger said (H/T IndieWire). "He said 'I want to make you a good Terminator.'"

Schwarzenegger wanted to beat his kill count in the first movie, however. "I said 'What do you mean a good Terminator?' I was killing 68 people in the first one," he commented. "In the second one I have to kill 150. We go up! Cut their throats and shoot them with a cannon and run them over with a car.' I had to outdo [Sylvester] Stallone. I said that my whole mission was being number one at killing amounts of people on screen."

Luckily, though, Cameron was set on his own plan. "He said 'Arnold, stop it. You're a very sick guy. I am gonna make sure that in Terminator 2, you're not gonna kill one single person,'" Schwarzenegger recalled. "I said that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How can this be Terminator 2 without me killing anyone? At least throw a few token bodies in there."

Schwarzenegger has also recently said the Terminator movies predicted the future with the rise of AI. "Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality," he said. "So it's not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of Jim Cameron."

You can fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix movies to stream now. 

Avatar: The Way of Water introduces plenty of new characters, and one of them is Jack Champion's Spider, a young human boy who hangs out with his adoptive Na'vi family. 

Since the blue Pandorans are brought to life via motion capture, that meant combining Na'vi and humans was particularly difficult – and led to Champion giving his entire performance twice over, two years apart. 

"Well, the beauty was, we got to do it twice," director James Cameron told Vanity Fair. "So Russ [Carpenter, cinematographer] would light the scene, so everything that we did with Jack photographically, we did previously with him in terms of capture. So, Jack did his entire performance twice, once for all the other actors like Sigourney [Weaver] and Britain [Dalton] and Sam [Worthington], so that he was there kind of off camera."

The time to actually film Champion's scenes didn't come until two years had passed. "He was like 13 at the time. And then later when we shot, he was 15, so he changed in size and vocal range a bit, but we capped him and then we had these capture scenes," Cameron added. 

Avatar 2 has already become one of the highest grossing movies of all time, and there are multiple sequels on the way – in fact, there will be five Avatar films in total. The third Avatar movie is set to introduce a new type of Na'vi, according to Cameron. 

"The fire will be represented by the 'Ash People.' I want to show the Na'vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides," he revealed. 

Avatar 3 is set for release on December 20, 2024. Until then, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates to get planning your 2023 theater trips. 

James Cameron is completely fine with everyone watching Avatar: The Way of Water from the comfort of their own homes – under certain conditions.

Speaking to NPR (H/T ComicBook.com), the Avatar director addressed the possibility of watching the sequel away from cinemas.

"If you watch Way of Water at home on a reasonably large flat screen TV with a decent sound system, and you sit close enough and that way across the room, you're going to have a good experience," Cameron stressed.

Whatever you do, though, don’t watch it on your phone – or anything else with middling speakers. Jim won’t be happy.

"When you start looking at something on a phone, you're sort of missing the point," he said. "Going to a movie theater is less about the size of the screen and the perfection of the sound system. And it's more about a decision to not multitask."

So, there you have it: a good sound system and a "reasonably large" TV are a must. The Way of Water, though, is still going strong at the box office, grossing almost $2 billion and becoming one of the most successful movies of all time.

A third Avatar movie, currently untitled, is planned for December 20, 2024. The threequel will not only feature new types of Na’vi, but also a new narrator: Lo’ak (Britain Dalton). Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are also on the way – now that The Way of Water has broken even.

For more on what’s coming to cinemas, check out our guide to movie release dates.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is looking to push the technological envelope forwards, just like James Cameron's movies.

GamesRadar+ recently spoke to Magnus Jansén, creative director of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, about the ambitions of Ubisoft's new game. "The time has been spent on building a brand new part of Pandora and creating the tools needed to bring it to life on the latest generation of console and PC hardware," Jansén says of Avatar's journey so far.

"At the heart of this effort is Snowdrop – our game engine. When we first met with Lightstorm (the James Cameron-led production company), Snowdrop is what showed to our partners that we were willing to push the envelope of technology, just like they do in the films. It was and still is the key foundation of our ongoing collaboration," the creative director continues.

Ubisoft Massive, the studio in charge of the Avatar game, has long been working on the technology for the new game, with the project being in production for at least five years. During this time, Jansén says Ubisoft Massive has been continually learning from and collaborating with Lightstorm Entertainment and Disney.

Right now, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is set to launch in Ubisoft's next fiscal year, arriving at some point before March 31, 2024, telling the story of Pandora before the time jump seen in Avatar: The Way of Water. Head over to our complete Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora preview for a deeper dive into what to expect from the ambitious new game. 

You can also read up on our new games 2023 guide for a look at what to expect before we see more of Ubisoft's Avatar game. 

There are few fantasy worlds as alluring as Pandora. So captivating that it helped propel Avatar and Avatar: Way of the Water into becoming two of the biggest movies of all-time, having grossed no fewer than four billion dollars between them. Yet for all its success, this realm has remained a closely-guarded commodity within Disney and Lightstorm Entertainment – ripe for further exploration, with precious few attempts made to expedite its expansion. Until now, that is. Director James Cameron has three sequels in production, and Ubisoft has Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – which may just be one of the biggest games of 2023.

Developer Massive Entertainment has spent the past five years transforming Pandora into a playground. While the films may have given us the opportunity to live vicariously through the Na'vi, this upcoming action-adventure video game will let us embody one. "One of the most exciting challenges has been to build a living and reactive world inhabited by unique creatures and new characters – a never-before-seen part of Pandora that players will explore while playing as Na’vi," says Magnus Jansén, creative director of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. "But thanks to the close collaboration with the teams at Lightstorm Entertainment and Disney, we got to learn from the best."

The studio, who is best known for engineering The Division and its 2019 sequel, has been entrusted with building the western frontier of Pandora – a space that is yet to be explored on the big screen. That's sure to be a lot of pressure, but Jansén speaks positively about the process. "One of the great things about working with Lightstorm and Disney is that it's a very collaborative experience with all teams involved. The collaboration and involvement have been very consistent, positive, and always productive. The result is a partnership, with a freeform exchange of ideas between two parties looking to bring to life the same universe, through different mediums, and enhance the immersion for fans."

That immersion will be rooted in the world of Pandora itself. You should expect to find a lush open world waiting for you in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, one which will allow us to explore everything from grand vistas through the clouds to the dense jungles that litter the ground. A living and reactive play space awaits, where characters will wield an acute understanding of the world state – tracking everything from time and weather to player progression, and the havoc Resources Development Administration (RDA) forces are unleashing on Pandora's natural beauty.

The blues

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is an ambitious undertaking, particularly for a studio that established itself as the premiere architects of digital urban sprawls. But Jansén tells us that Massive Entertainment's long-standing commitment to pushing technological boundaries with the Snowdrop Engine, which has powered its pursuit of Pandora since The Avatar Project was first unveiled in 2017, gives all involved parties confidence that it can pull this off. 

"The time has been spent on building a brand new part of Pandora and creating the tools needed to bring it to life on the latest generation of console and PC hardware," says Jansén. "At the heart of this effort is Snowdrop – our game engine. When we first met with Lightstorm, Snowdrop is what showed to our partners that we were willing to push the envelope of technology, just like they do in the films. It was and still is the key foundation of our ongoing collaboration."

Ubisoft is yet to reveal Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora gameplay, although an in-engine teaser released in 2021 revealed a pretty substantial shift from what we've come to expect from Massive. The team is responsible for some of the best third-person shooters of the last generation, but this PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X effort will see the studio tackle a first-person experience – where we will experience stalking through dense brush with a bow in-hand, and soaring on the back of our very own banshee through the eyes of a Na'vi. 

Jansén explains that experimentation has always been at the heart of Massive, and that he's keen for players around the world to see what the studio can do as it pushes into a new genre. "Well before The Division, Massive made RTS games. So, it's in our DNA to jump to new genres when our passion leads us there, and the world of Avatar convinced us. Ever since the first film came out, everybody fell in love with Pandora, this place full of wonder and danger which is the ultimate call to adventure. Our goal has always been to allow people to finally get to go there and be immersed in that world, feel it, and interact with it – and there was no better way to do so than first-person."

This standalone story, set before the time-jump in Avatar: Way of the Water, is scheduled to release in Ubisoft's next financial year – which falls between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. It's guaranteed to be a video game that defines the conversation around the publisher this year, whether that's because we merely receive a look at the game in action or finally get the opportunity to sit down and play Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora for ourselves. 

All throughout January, GamesRadar+ is exploring the biggest games of the new year with exclusive interviews, hands-on impressions, and in-depth editorials. For more, be sure to follow along with Big in 2023. 

Avatar: The Way of Water has overtaken Top Gun: Maverick to become the highest grossing release of 2022 and the 12th biggest movie ever. 

The film is James Cameron's follow-up to 2009's Avatar, itself the highest grossing movie of all time, and picks up several years after the events of that movie, with Jake and Neytiri now parents. Once again, though, the villainous RDA threatens their peaceful existence on Pandora. 

Per Deadline, Avatar 2 has topped $1.5 billion worldwide (once January 4's numbers are accounted for), which just clears Maverick's $1.489 billion. The Way of Water reportedly needed to make $1.4 billion to break even, which means the film has hit that milestone. 

The Avatar sequel debuted to wildly mixed reviews and an opening weekend below predictions, but clearly momentum has been on the film's side. The Way of Water has no major blockbuster competition until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releases on February 17, too, so there's still plenty of time for the film to draw in movie-goers. 

The film is just one of many sequels planned for the franchise – there will be five Avatar movies in total. Cameron has teased that Avatar 3 will feature a new type of Na'vi. "The fire will be represented by the 'Ash People.' I want to show the Na'vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides," he revealed. "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 new worlds, while continuing 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. But, obviously, everything will depend on how Avatar 2 is received, if it finds its audience." 

With The Way of Water's impressive box office, we can assume the franchise will continue full steam ahead. 

The Way of Water is in theaters now. If you're all caught up, check out our spoilery breakdown of the Avatar 2 ending. You can also fill out your watchlist with our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates. 

Avatar: The Way of Water is continuing to dominate the box office after its fourth weekend of release. The long-awaited sequel has now grossed over $1.4 billion globally, setting it on pace to become one of the biggest movies of all time.

The movie has achieved $444 million at the US domestic box office and $956 million internationally. This means it's closing in on becoming 2022’s biggest release, as it nears Top Gun: Maverick’s $1.48 billion haul at the box office. Per Collider, the movie’s break-even point is also around $1.4 billion, meaning the sequel should have hit – or be about to hit – that target. 

The Way of Water opened initially to mixed reviews and a slightly muted first box office weekend. However, love for James Cameron’s return to Pandora has been steadily growing since then, landing the movie an audience score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The sequel picks up a decade after the first movie as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are forced away from their home to protect their children. However, despite settling with an underwater community on the other side of Pandora, trouble isn’t far behind as they must battle to stay alive.

Cameron has already filmed the third movie in the Avatar franchise, as well as some of the fourth movie. The director explained he had done this to avoid "the Stranger Things effect" of child actors being much older than their characters. Avatar 5 is also in the works, meaning that there’s plenty more Pandora on the way. 

Avatar: The Way of Water is out in theaters. For more on the movie, check out our Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained and our breakdown of the Avatar 2's high frame rate. 

For what else is coming to theaters, check out our guide to upcoming 2023 movie release dates.

James Cameron has urged Matt Damon to let the fact he turned down the lead in Avatar go. The Good Will Hunting actor was offered a part in the original movie as well as a slice of the movie’s profits.

"I was offered a little movie called Avatar, James Cameron offered me 10% of it," Damon said at the Cannes Film Festival (H/T Deadline). "I will go down in history. You will never meet an actor who turned down more money."

He was the original choice to play Jake Sully in the movie before it went to actor Sam Worthington. Damon had to turn it down because he was committed to the Jason Bourne movies, and didn’t want to leave the franchise in the lurch.

Cameron has now jokingly addressed the comments in an interview with BBC Radio 1. "He’s beating himself up over this," the director said. "And I really think you know, 'Matt, you’re kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world, get over it.' But he had to do another Bourne film which was on his runway and there was nothing we could do about that. So he had to regretfully decline."

Cameron is still open to the idea of casting Damon in an Avatar sequel. "We must do it," he continued. "We have to do it so the world is in equilibrium again. But he doesn’t get 10%."

Avatar’s long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water has now opened in theaters. Reviews have been mixed for the new movie but it's performed well at the box office so far.

For more on the sequel, check out our breakdown of the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained and when Avatar 2 will be on Disney Plus.

A lot has changed since the first Avatar shook up the industry back in 2009. We’re now in the age of streaming – with many moviegoers expecting some of the biggest and newest releases to be available on streaming service mere months after their world premieres.

James Cameron, though, has always done things differently. And we expect that to be the case again with Avatar: The Way of Water eventually finding its home on Disney Plus. Join us below as we dive into all the possibilities surrounding the Avatar sequel’s streaming release date – and what other blockbusters can tell us about when it’s coming to Disney Plus.

When is Avatar: The Way of Water coming to Disney Plus?

As of right now, we simply don’t know. But we have a few ideas. Post-COVID, new releases have typically been placed on streaming services around 45-60 days after hitting theaters. There are, however, some outliers. Marvel Studios’ output have taken up to 70 days to hit streaming, while recent Disney release Strange World is being fast-tracked on to Disney Plus after just 30 days.

These aren’t likely to factor into Avatar: The Way of Water’s streaming plans (which, for the avoidance of doubt, haven’t been announced yet). Instead, we should focus on its closest comparison: Top Gun: Maverick.

Avatar 2 and Tom Cruise’s billion-dollar hit are alike in many ways: they both preach the importance of the cinematic experience, draw in large numbers across particularly busy seasons, and each will – and did – have long legs at the box office.

Top Gun: Maverick was released on May 27, 2022. It won’t hit streaming until December 22, 2022 on Paramount Plus. That’s nearly seven months later – an almost impossibly long wait in today’s day and age.

We can expect The Way of Water to follow a similar path. There may not be a streaming release date, but we shouldn’t expect the Avatar sequel to hit Disney Plus any time before July 2023.

Given the original Avatar’s absurdly long run in cinemas (almost eight months), it may be nearer to August or September before we see the Sullys on our screens. To speculate further, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Disney Plus release drop simultaneously with Disney’s D23 event, starting September 8, 2023. Circle that in your calendars, just in case.

Want more on Avatar: The Way of Water? Check out our pieces on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

If you’re reading this, you’re either: A) sat in a cinema at the end of Avatar: The Way of Water waiting for the credits to roll, or B) curious about whether you should stay behind at the end of the Avatar sequel.

We can say it up front: there is no Avatar: The Way of Water post-credits scene to stick around for. But you don’t have to get up and leave straight away. There are some bonus treats for those who want to stay in the world of Pandora for a little bit longer. We discuss it below in our spoiler-free guide. 

Is there an Avatar: The Way of Water post-credits scene?

No, but you’re treated to various pieces of gorgeous concept art from Pandora as the credits roll. On top of that, the cast list and credits are also backed by 'Nothing is Lost (You Give me Strength)' by The Weeknd, which is the lead single from The Way of Water soundtrack. But, after three hours in the cinema, you’re free to go whenever you please.

So, James Cameron has neatly sidestepped any sort of post-credits stinger to tease any upcoming sequels. There’s no last-minute twist or reveal, nor is there any setup for future movies.

Despite that, there is plenty more Avatar on the way. The untitled Avatar 3 is arriving in cinemas on December 20, 2024, with Avatar 4 planned for December 18, 2026. A fifth movie, which is heading to Earth, is set for release on December 22, 2028. 

Want more on Avatar: The Way of Water? Check out our pieces on the Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained.

Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron's long-awaited return to Pandora, has finally arrived on the big screen. Set over a decade after the events of 2009's Avatar, the movie picks up with human-turned-Na'vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) living in domestic bliss with their four children, the war with humanity a distant memory. That is, until the RDA returns – with some familiar faces in tow.

The sequel sees Jake and his family explore the underwater world of Pandora, as they attempt to make a new home with the Metkayina tribe, led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). The movie's action-packed finale is a lot to take in – in 3D, no less – so you'd be forgiven for having a few questions. We've done our best to answer them, as well as re-capping the climactic plot points.

Warning: major spoilers for the Avatar: The Way of Water ending ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know anything in advance. 

Avatar: The Way of Water ending explained: a recap

The movie's dramatic finale starts with an epic battle between the Metkayina tribe and a group of RDA (Resources Development Administration) humans led by Colonel Miles Quaritch.

Quaritch teams up with Captain Scoresby and his crew of Tulkun poachers to hunt one down near the Metkayina settlement in order to lure out the tribe and therefore Jake. Jake realizes this is a trap and tries to convince them not to fight.

The Metkayina has informed the Tulkun about the RDA's imminent attack, but Lo'ak, accompanied by the other kids, goes to warn Payakan about the encroaching poachers as Payakan is an outcast and won't have been told by the rest of the herd. While he is out at the Three Brothers Rocks, he notices that Payakan has already been attacked. Quaritch and co. capture Lo'ak, Tuk, and Tsireya.

A battle ensues. Kiri connects to the Spirit Tree and uses her powers to attack a submarine by controlling the marine life with her mind. Neteyam rescues Lo'ak, Tuk, and Tsireya and they go to save Spider, who's still in the clutches of the humans, although doing his best to fight back). 

The conflict badly damages the RDA ship, and the humans begin to evacuate the sinking vessel. After being rescued by Neteyam, Tuk and Tsireya go back to the ship to find Kiri, who is still on board. However, Quaritch pre-empts their plan and captures Tuk. 

Meanwhile, Lo'ak and Neteyam find Spider, and the three escape from the ship – but Quaritch shoots Neteyam and he is badly wounded. Lo'ak and Spider manage to drag him back to their parents, but Neteyam dies of his wounds. 

Jakes goes back to the sinking ship to save Tuk and Kiri. He manages to free Tuk, but Quaritch has Kiri at knifepoint. Suddenly, Neytiri appears, holding a knife to Spider's throat – she threatens to kill Spider, telling Quaritch that he owes her the life of his son after he killed Neteyam. Neytiri scratches Spider with the knife, scaring Quaritch, who releases Kiri. 

A fight ensues between Jake and Quaritch on the sinking, burning ship. Meanwhile, Neytiri and Tuk are sucked down below the boat, and Jake becomes trapped with Quaritch. They fight hand to hand and Jake eventually strangles Quaritch who begins to float to the bottom of the sea.

Separated from Jake and Neytiri, the kids set out to look for their parents. Kiri connects to the Spirit Tree, while Lo'ak swims to find a badly injured Jake. Spider finds Quaritch, who is about to drown, and decides to save him after he stopped Neytiri harming him. 

Just when things are starting to look desperate for Neytiri and Tuk, the water around them becomes illuminated and Kiri appears. She has a pair of wings with her that allow prolonged underwater breathing, which she gives to Neytiri, and then leads her and Tuk out of the sinking ship. Lo'ak coaches Jake to help him hold his breath underwater and leads him out of the boat wreckage. Payakan is waiting outside and helps them out of the water, and the family is reunited.

Meanwhile, Spider drags Quaritch out of the water and he offers to take Spider with him. Spide refuses, and Quaritch flies away on an Ikran. Spider reunites with the Sullys. Neteyam gets a sea burial at the village. The Sullys plan to move on elsewhere. Jake and Neytiri connect to the Metkayina's Spirit Tree and see visions of Neteyam, both in flashbacks to his childhood and now. Jake vows to stop running and take a stand against the RDA to protect his family.

Who dies in Avatar: The Way of Water?

While there are plenty of unnamed casualties in the final, climactic battle of Avatar: The Way of Water, the only major character to meet a tragic end is Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri's oldest son. Colonel Quaritch shoots him when he and Lo'ak are rescuing Spider from the RDA ship, and he dies from his injuries shortly afterward. 

What happens to Neteyam after he dies?

The Sully family gives Neteyam a sea burial in the Metkayina tradition. His body is sent to the bottom of the ocean where it's absorbed into a seabed of anemones. As Tsireya says earlier in the movie, "the way of water has no beginning and no end," and Neteyam's water burial sees him become one with the energy of Pandora. 

What happens to the Sully family?

The surviving Sullys – Jake, Neytiri, Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tuk, with Spider in tow – are set to move on from the Metkayina tribe. The movie ends with Jake's voiceover saying that he's learned the best way to protect his family is to fight rather than run, so it looks like we may see them return home to the forest in Avatar 3 to face the RDA head-on.  

What's going on with Kiri? What are her powers?

Kiri is the biological daughter of the avatar of Dr. Grace Augustine and she was adopted by Jake and Neytiri after Grace died in the first movie. She doesn't know who her father is – could his identity explain her mysterious powers? There's some Anakin Skywalker-syndrome going on here.

When Kiri connects to the Metkayina Spirit Tree, she is able to control other things in the ocean – in the battle against the RDA, she is able to control marine wildlife with her mind to attack a submarine, as well as using her powers to save her mother and sister. She is also able to hold her breath underwater for much longer than her siblings. When she's attached to the tree earlier in the movie, she has a seizure, and human scientist Norm tells Jake that he thinks she may have epilepsy. Kiri, on the other hand, thinks she has a connection to Eywa, the Na'vi deity.

Did Colonel Quaritch survive?

After Quaritch and Jake fight amidst the sinking ship, it looks like it might be the end for Quaritch – Jake strangles him until he passes out, and his body begins to sink to the ocean floor. However, Spider grabs hold of him and swims to the surface with him, dragging him out of the water. Quaritch regains consciousness and flies away on an Ikran, so we definitely haven't seen the last of Jake Sully's nemesis. 

What's next for humanity?

The Resources Development Administration (RDA) returns at the start of Avatar: The Way of Water with the intention of colonizing all of Pandora to make it humanity's new home, as Earth is on the brink of becoming inhabitable. They have built a walled city called Bridgehead on Pandora, and everything humanity is doing is being funded by Amrita, a valuable substance being harvested from the Talukun that stops humans from aging. 

Although the RDA who attacks the Sullys and the Metkayina were defeated in the movie's final battle, there are still plenty more left military personnel at Bridgehead, so we haven't seen the last of humanity on Pandora.

Want more on Avatar: The Way of Water? Check out our pieces on the Avatar: The Way of Water frame rate explained.