Kate Winslet Reunites With James Cameron For The 'Avatar' Sequels

Now that four “Avatar” sequels have been green lit and their cost has been reported at a staggering $1 billion price tag, the conversation that endlessly circles the James Cameron-created blockbuster is just how irrelevant the movie supposedly is. And to be fair, looking around the movie and pop culture landscape since 2009 when “Avatar” first came out, the movie’s influence and impact feels largely negligible. Is the highest grossing movie of all time ($2.7 billion) completely passé and insignificant? While that certainly feels like the case in North America where fads come and go and blockbusters of the past (“Transformers,” “Pirates Of The Caribbean”) underwhelm just a few short years later, culture works differently globally; there always seems to be a delayed echo. Note, $2 billion of that $2.7B gross came from around the rest of the world and something tells me they haven’t forgotten “Avatar” and are still catching up to its technology and influence: see Luc Besson’s 2017 film “Valerian,” which is heavily indebted to Cameron’s sci-fi spectacle. Don’t count out James Cameron or “Avatar” just yet.

READ MORE: ‘Avatar’ Sequels Go ‘Stranger Things’ With First Look At The New Young Cast

But all of that is longwinded way to say James Cameron is perhaps inching his way back to relevancy with North American audiences with some new casting. In a decades-later reunion, Kate Winslet, who “Rose” to fame with her now-famous role in “Titantic”—the second highest grossing movie of all time— will be joining the cast of the “Avatar” sequels.

“Kate and I have been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration on ‘Titanic,’ which was one of the most rewarding of my career,” Cameron said in statement to Deadline. “I can’t wait to see her bring the character of Ronal to life.” Who Ronal is exactly is unknown, but Winslet will have a starring role and based on the name of the character, we’ll assume she’s a new Na’vi tribeswoman.

Production for all of the four planned “Avatar sequels officially began last month. Their release date schedule goes like: “Avatar 2” on December 18, 2020, “Avatar 3” opens on December 17, 2021, followed by “Avatar 4” in December 20, 2024 and “Avatar 5” on December 19, 2025. A gigantic act of hubris to line-up films like that at that expense?