As “Avatar: The Way Of Water‘ hits theaters everywhere tomorrow, questions about the long-awaited sequel abound. Will the film be another massive cash cow for Jim Cameron? Does the “Avatar” franchise have any cultural caché after thirteen years between the first and second movies? Will Cameron make all five films he has mapped out for the series? It all hinges on how “The Way Of Water” does at the box office this weekend.
READ MORE: ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Is Ready To Dive Into The Best Picture Race
Advance critical notice says Cameron may have another smash hit on his hands, but only time will tell. But if “The Way Of Water” indeed makes as much money as its predecessor (or more), Cameron’s future plans for Pandora may get even more ambitious. Vanity Fair reports (via Collider) that franchise star Sam Worthington said in a recent interview that Cameron has a full script written that takes place between the the first two “Avatar” films. What’s more, it’s pretty good. “Jim gave us a script of 1.5 that he wrote that shows the time between “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and he wrote a full script,” said Worthinton. “I said, ‘When do we shoot this one? Because this is amazing.’ He goes, ‘No, no, that’s just something I wrote over the past year to give you his backstory.’”
“Avatar 1.5“?! As if Cameron’s planned quintet of films for the franchise isn’t ambitious enough already. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here: Cameron and co. are still fine-tuning story details for the possible later sequels still in development. Producer Jon Landau had some scoop on “Avatar 5” for Gizmodo: that film will partially take place on Earth. “In there is a section of the story where we go to Earth,” said Landu. “And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s [Zoe Saldana] eyes, to what exists on Earth.” And Earth will be much more than seeing the global headquarters of the Resources Development Administration, or RDA for short. “Just like you’re defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad. Not all Na’vi are good,” Landau continued. “And that’s the case here on Earth. And we want to expose Neytiri to that.”
Of course, Cameron only gets to make “Avatar 5” if “The Way Of Water” makes a lot of money, a reality the director is all too aware of. “Let’s face it, if “Avatar 2” and “3” don’t make enough money, there’s not going to be a “4” and “5,”” he told Vanity Fair last month. “They’re fully encapsulated stories in and of themselves. It builds across the five films to a greater kind of meta-narrative, but they’re fully formed films in their own right.” But Cameron hopes he gets to make his complete vision for Pandora. “It will be a natural extension of all the themes, and the characters, and the spiritual undercurrents,” Cameron continued. “Basically, if you loved the first movie, you’re gonna love these movies, and if you hated it, you’re probably gonna hate these. If you loved it at the time, and you said later you hated it, you’re probably gonna love these.”
But will Cameron expand his plans even further with “Avatar 1.5”? It sounds laughable, but if Cameron has another winner on his hands with “The Way Of Water” (and when Cameron wins, he wins big), he may indeed add a fifth “Avatar” sequel into the mix. After “The Way Of Water” hits theaters tomorrow, “Avatar 3” eyes a 2024 release date. Then the fourth and fifth films tentatively come out in 2026 and 2028, respectively. So, the 2020s may end up the “Avatar” decade.
Read The Playlist’s review of “Avatar: The Way Of Water” here.
