James Cameron hints at delays in Avatar 4 and 5 (& why that's good)

With The Way of Water’s success, Avatar 3 is a surety, but what about Avatar 4 and 5? James Cameron has already shot the next one, but the filming of Avatar 4 and 5 is yet to happen. Considering that The Way of Water had a production budget of $460 million, the fourth and fifth installments became doubtful. But that probably won’t be the case if The Seed Bearer or Avatar 3 repeats Avatar 2’s success.

The Way of Water needed to enter the Billion Dollar club to break even, but it will go way beyond that. If The Seed Bearer also has a strong story and a similar reception, only then would Disney like to invest in Avatar 4 and 5. So, for now, James Cameron has brought some bad news for those looking forward to Avatar: The Tulkun Rider and Avatar: The Quest of Eywa.

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Avatar 4 and 5 looking at potential delays

James Cameron on Avatar sequels (Image via 20th Century Studios)

In a recent interview with The Wrap, James Cameron stated that Avatar 3 will follow its scheduled release, but parts 4 and 5 could be looking at a delay after that. He said:

"They exist. These stories exist. We know exactly what we're doing. We know what these movies are gonna be. We just have to go through the process of getting them done. So, you know ideally two years from now, [Avatar] 3 comes out. Ideally maybe 3 years after that 4 comes out and then ideally maybe a couple years after that 5 comes out.”

Cameron further told the magazine:

“So we won't be away from the market place, so we'll have that sense of a persistent world and ongoing story that I think people want. If they're going to invest in these characters, they're going to invest in this world, we want to give it to them in a regular cadence, ideally, and that was the game plan. That's one of the reasons we were gone so long."

Well, these delays were predictable, and they might be good for Disney.

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Why delaying Avatar 4 and 5 would be a good move

All Avatar sequels (Image via Twitter/@jmm_77)

James Cameron started filming Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: The Seed Bearer in 2017. Originally when Fox was in charge of these films, they wanted to put out Avatar 2 and 3 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Then, Avatar 4 and 5 would have followed in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

But when Disney acquired the company, they rescheduled each film after every alternate year, starting in 2021. Then, the pandemic pushed every Avatar sequel by one year, and we got the current schedule:

Avatar: The Way of Water – December 16, 2022 (already out)

Avatar: The Seed Bearer – December 20, 2024

Avatar: The Tulkun Rider – December 18, 2026

Avatar: The Quest of Eywa – December 22, 2028

Jake Sully's family in Avatar: The Way of Water (Image via 20th Century Studios)

It was confirmed that James Cameron only shot Avatar 2 and 3, and parts 4 and 5 are yet to be filmed. Considering that The Way of Water and The Seed Bearer have taken such a long time to be shot, and Cameron will be working on the VFX of part 3 for the next two years, there’s no time left for Avatar 4 and 5 to be shot and finish their visual effects until 2026 and 2028.

If these two movies do end up happening, then Disney will probably have to push Avatar 4 to December 2028, and Avatar 5 might come out in December 2030 (if not later). This way, Cameron would get ample time to finish filming, work on the VFX and turn in two more revolutionary outings. At the same time, this would save the Avatar franchise from over-saturation.

Avatar 2 has worked really well because it came out at a time when the box office needed saving with something revolutionary. So after The Seed Bearer hits theaters in 2024, it would be nice if the franchise takes a break for the next 4-5 years. And the last two films will have to offer something radically different from their predecessors.