Latest figures indicate Avatar: Fire and Ash<\/a> has now grossed $1.231 billion globally after four weekends in theaters. It is trailing both its predecessors at this point in its run. After weekend four, Avatar: The Way of Water had made $1.713 billion, and Avatar had made $1.335 billion. It looks increasingly unlikely that Fire and Ash will end up matching Avatar 1 or 2 by the end of its theatrical run. But the bigger question is whether it will end up doing well enough to convince Disney to greenlight Avatar 4 and 5. Disney has given both sequels release dates already: Avatar 4 currently has a December 21, 2029 release date, with Avatar 5 due out December 19, 2031. Cameron, now 71, would be close to 80 years old by the time it all wraps up.<\/p>\n In a new interview with Taiwanese outlet TVBS News<\/a>, Cameron stopped short of confirming whether Avatar 4 and 5 would definitely happen. But he did say Avatar 3 will need to make a lot of money, and he\u2019ll need to figure out a way to make Avatar 4 and 5 for less money, in order to get the thumbs up from Disney.<\/p>\n Cameron was asked about the chances of Everything Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh appearing in future Avatar movies, which is where talk of 4 and 5 came up.<\/p>\n \u201cMichelle [Yeoh] is definitely going to be in 4, if we make 4,\u201d Cameron began. \u201cHere\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.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we continue and we do 4, we also do 4 and 5 together. So we made 2 and 3 together, one big story. And then 4 and 5 is another big story. And Michelle will be in 4 and 5. And she will play a performance capture character. Her character name is Paktu\u2019eylat. She will be a Na\u2019vi.\u201d<\/p>\n Every James Cameron Movie Ranked Cameron\u2019s comments here echo those he made in the run up to Fire and Ash\u2019s release, where he admitted he was feeling nervous about the film\u2019s box office performance and expressed concern about the \u201cforces\u201d working against theatrical releases in 2025. Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast<\/a>, Cameron said there was potential for \u201csequelitis.\u201d<\/p>\n “People tend to dismiss sequels unless it\u2019s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is \u2014 this is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it,\u201d he said. And there\u2019s the \u201cone-two punch\u201d of streaming and Covid, which means fewer people are going to the movies \u2014 75% of the number in 2019, Cameron suggested.<\/p>\n When pressed on how much Avatar: Fire and Ash cost to make, Cameron wouldn\u2019t be drawn into divulging a figure, only suggesting it was a lot of money, and so the movie will have to make a lot of money to turn a profit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is one metric f**k ton of money, which means we have to make two metric f**k tons of money to make a profit,\u201d he said. \u201cI have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?\u201d<\/p>\n And on that point, Cameron admitted he was \u201cabsolutely\u201d ready to walk away from Avatar if Fire and Ash flops. \u201cI\u2019ve been in Avatar land for 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cActually 30 years because I wrote it in \u201895, but I wasn\u2019t working continuously on it for those first 10 years. Yeah, absolutely, sure. If this is where it ends, cool.\u201d But what about open story threads? \u201cThere\u2019s one open thread. I\u2019ll write a book!\u201d Cameron responded.<\/p>\n Disney has used Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailers (which, apparently, are neither teasers nor trailers<\/a>) to encourage repeat viewings of Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters. Four teasers have been released so far<\/a>, with each going online after a week of theatrical exclusivity ahead of Fire and Ash.<\/p>\n The future of cinemagoing is top of mind as 2026 kicks off, with Netflix, which is buying Warner Bros. for $72 billion, reportedly interested in a 17-day window for theatrical releases before they hit the streaming platform<\/a>. Meanwhile, box office revenue is struggling, with even Marvel movies \u2014 previously guaranteed hits \u2014 having trouble getting fans into theaters. The big question right now is, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of going to the cinema?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a>The fate of Avatar 4 and 5 is still up in the air. Photo by VCG\/VCG via Getty Images.<\/p>\n