KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 \u2014 Malaysian fans may soon see Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh step into the world of Pandora, with Avatar creator James Cameron confirming that the Oscar-winning actress is slated to appear in the franchise\u2019s fourth and fifth films \u2014 if they are ultimately greenlit.<\/p>\n
Speaking in a recent interview tied to the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the 71-year-old director told Taiwanese outlet TVBS News that Yeoh\u2019s involvement is already planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichelle is definitely going to be in 4, if we make 4,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n
That, however, comes with a significant caveat. Cameron acknowledged the financial pressures currently facing the film industry, particularly for large-scale productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, here\u2019s the thing: the movie industry is depressed right now. Avatar 3 cost a lot of money. We have to do well in order to continue. We have to do well and we need to figure out how to make Avatar movies more inexpensively in order to continue,\u201d he reportedly said.<\/p>\n
Should the sequels move forward, Cameron said the next two films would be shot together, continuing the franchise\u2019s long-form storytelling approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we continue and we do 4, we also do 4 and 5 together,\u201d he said, adding that the films would follow \u201cone big story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron also shared early details about Yeoh\u2019s role, revealing that she will play a Na\u2019vi \u201cperformance-capture character\u201d named Paktuelat.<\/p>\n
Yeoh has been linked to the Avatar universe for years, though she has yet to make her on-screen debut in the franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2019, the official Avatar X account announced her casting as Dr Karina Mogue in a birthday tribute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years later, producer Jon Landau posted a photo of Yeoh on set with Cameron, writing: \u201cMichelle Yeoh kept Jim busy between set-ups while filming Avatar 3!\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the speculation, Cameron later clarified in 2024 that Yeoh would not appear in the third film.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that got a little bit misreported. She will be coming in soon to do her part, which is an interesting, fun character,\u201d he told Entertainment Weekly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. This whole thing has been planned for years and years. The scripts were all written years ago, through the end of movie 5.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that production on later instalments had already begun in parts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we’ve been working on parts of 4 even as we go along, mostly because we’ve got this young cast,\u201d Cameron said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to shoot them all while they were still young.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron also praised Yeoh while speaking to Entertainment Weekly alongside Avatar stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Salda\u00f1a.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love Michelle,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was always a movie star, but she’s blown up into a huge, huge phenomenon. I look forward to working there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeoh herself has previously confirmed her involvement in the franchise, telling Entertainment Weekly: \u201cSo, yes, I am in the Avatar sequels and as you know we can’t really talk very much about it. But it’s James Cameron! Come on! I would be the tea lady for James Cameron!\u201d<\/p>\n
She also revealed that she \u201cshot for a few weeks,\u201d adding: \u201cI was so impressed with the work that he’s done, the work that he’s doing, the energy\u2026 He\u2019s a genius, he\u2019s a walking genius\u2026 and I really really enjoyed the experience and I can\u2019t wait to go back soon, I hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Yeoh\u2019s long-awaited appearance in the Avatar universe will depend on how Fire and Ash performs at the box office \u2014 and whether Cameron\u2019s ambitious plans for the franchise continue to move forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 \u2014 Malaysian fans may soon see Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh step into the world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[130489,458,146,130491,85,46,30586,49766,130490,125276],"class_list":{"0":"post-242789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-avatar-sequels","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-fire-and-ash-box-office","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-james-cameron","15":"tag-michelle-yeoh","16":"tag-na039vi-paktuelat","17":"tag-pandora"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}