Get ready, Avatar fans! James Cameron is teasing that Avatar 3: Fire and Ash might just be the boldest installment in the franchise yet.
In a revealing interview with the U.K.’s Empire Magazine, published on January 15, the Academy Award-winning director shared what audiences can expect from the next chapter of the global phenomenon.
Cameron emphasized that his goal isn’t to simply repeat the success of the first two films but to take “brave choices” that may surprise audiences.
“It’s a tricky thing,” Cameron, 70, said. “We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it [the new film] goes, ‘F—, that’s not what I signed up for.’”
He continued, “But if you’re not making brave choices, you’re wasting everybody’s time and money. That alone is not sufficient to create success, but it’s necessary. You’ve got to break the mold every fricking time.”
Cameron also hinted at high-stakes action in the new film, promising intense moments that will take audiences to unexpected places, but with those places feeling “earned.”
“We’ve got some really clever action set-pieces,” he told. “You can get your blood up in this movie. But what excites me as an artist who recently turned 70 and has kind of done all that stuff is not only the opportunity to get to do it again, but to get to a level of character and intrigue you haven’t seen before in an Avatar movie.”
When discussing the film’s production progress, Cameron revealed that Avatar 3 is in “strong shape,” especially in comparison to the production timeline for Avatar: The Way of Water.
“We’ve doubled the number of shots finished at this stage of the game than we had on movie two [and] the films are about equal length. So that puts us well ahead of the curve, which is something I’ve never, frankly, experienced before,” he said.
He added with a laugh, “We’re getting to the point where we’re actually getting good at this.”
In a December 2023 exclusive interview, Cameron revealed that parts of Avatar 3 were filmed while working on The Way of Water—and even some footage for the fourth movie was captured during the production of Fire and Ash.
“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 explained.
Cameron also confirmed that Kate Winslet would reprise her role as Ronal in Avatar 3, revealing that she trained with a real-life “husband and wife shaman practice” to prepare for certain techniques she will perform in the film.
“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 said.
The Avatar franchise, renowned for its groundbreaking visuals and complex world-building, remains one of the most successful film series of all time.
The original Avatar (2009) is currently the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion worldwide. Avatar: The Way of Water, released in 2022, ranks third with $2.3 billion.
Avatar 3: Fires and Ash is slated to hit theaters on December 19, 2025.
