Last week, critics were able to experience James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and many of them raved. Cameron spent over a decade putting the film together, along with developing three other installments all at the same time. Due to the unique and elaborate development of the multiple “Avatar” sequels, Cameron has a good idea of where they are heading and is already sharing some tidbits about two of them.
While speaking with Fandom (see below), the filmmaker teased what fans can expect from “Avatar 5,” and that would see the action leaving Pandora and moving to Earth. Our planet is a location that was only briefly explored in the original movie before audiences were transported to Pandora, the lush alien planet that humans running the Resources Development Administration (RDA) decided to colonize and stip for precious resources.
“I will say that in one of the upcoming films, not [‘Avatar 3’], by [‘Avatar 5’] you’ll see action on Earth…Because don’t we want to juxtapose this incredible world in its prime with Earth a couple of hundred years from now that is the result of us if we don’t change. You want to see that contrast, right?”
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In the original film from 2009 and the extended cut, we got a glimpse of Earth where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is simply miserable wasting his time in bars before being recruited by RDA to take his brother’s place in the Avatar program after he dies in a mugging. In Cameron’s futuristic Earth, the planet is experiencing overpopulation, and many citizens wear breathers as humanity is letting everything dwindle and die. What Cameron’s “action” comments mean is not completely clear, but seeing the Pandorians take the fight to Earth wouldn’t be all that surprising as the stakes and scale will likely have to continue to increase between the sequels. All the fighting has been relegated to Pandora, but it sounds like that could change for the “final” installment if Cameron ever gets there (though he has teased two sequels after that, though it could be wishful thinking).
Cameron is also hyping up the script for “Avatar 4.” During a chat with Collider, the filmmaker said the studio executives were blown away by the work by screenwriter Shane Salerno and didn’t give any notes, simply adding “holy f***.”
“I can’t tell you the details, but all I can say is that when I turned in the script for [‘The Way of Water’], the studio gave me three pages of notes,” Cameron told Collider. “And when I turned in the script for 3, they gave me a page of notes, so I was getting better. When I turned in the script for 4, the studio executive, the creative executive over the films, wrote me an email that said, ‘Holy fuck.’ And I said, ‘Well, where are the notes?’ And she said, ‘Those are the notes.’ Because it kind of goes nuts in a good way, right?”
It’s exciting to hear how tickled Cameron is with his other “Avatar” installments he still has to complete shooting. With “Avatar: The Way of Water” hitting screens on December 16, the demand for more Pandora is likely going to grow once audiences get their eyeballs on the first sequel, and the director has already teased plans for “Avatar 6” and “Avatar 7” if the studio wants them.