James Cameron: "Avatar's future depends on Fire & Ash's success"

James Cameron has openly stated that the future of the Avatar franchise hinges on how well the upcoming film, Avatar: Fire & Ash, performs commercially. In an interview with Variety, he emphasised that the movie must earn substantial profits for the series to continue, otherwise, there might not be any more sequels.

During the conversation, Cameron noted that Fire & Ash will most likely be profitable, but the question is whether it will be profitable enough to justify further instalments. He was clear that the future of Avatar 4 and 5 is far from guaranteed, even though he would love to keep expanding the universe.

Cameron compared the filmmaking process to "a banquet meal served to a global audience, at ticket prices that hardly differ from smaller, much cheaper productions." The financial expectations are enormous, and the huge costs associated with Avatar must generate a proportionate return.

However, Cameron reassured fans that Avatar: Fire & Ash is designed to deliver a proper conclusion — not a cliffhanger — though the door remains open for future projects.

The first Avatar grossed nearly $3 billion, and its sequel, The Way of Water, also performed strongly with around $2.3 billion worldwide. And according to Cameron, those are the kinds of numbers required to justify keeping Pandora alive on the big screen.

Avatar: Fire & Ash is set to hit theatres on December 17th, and whether the saga continues will depend entirely on how audiences respond.

Do you think there will be more Avatar films?