James Cameron compares Avatar sequels to episodic TV

As James Cameron again tries to be king of the box office world, with Avatar: The Way of Water now around $1.2 billion worldwide, he has further outlined the plans for its sequels, drawing comparisons to episodic television.

In an interview with The Wrap, James Cameron said of the Avatar sequels, “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 ideally two years from now, [Avatar 3] comes out, ideally maybe three years after that [Avatar 4] comes out, and then ideally maybe a couple years after that [Avatar 5] comes out.”

The plan, Cameron says, is to keep Avatar and its sequels in the mind of audiences as the years go by. “If they’re gonna invest in these characters, if they’re gonna invest in this world, we want to give it to them at a regular cadence. That was the game plan.” Adding to this, Cameron said, “[The collective films are] really one big story, but it’s like episodic television. Each one has its own proximal resolution. The character problems continue across the cut.”

So, yes, James Cameron (who is now 68) seems to have devoted what could be the remainder of his career to the Avatar sequels. With that, he recently said that he “will always mourn some of the stories that I don’t get to make.” That is a long list of titles. Since the release of Avatar in 2009, Cameron has been attached to various projects, like producing another Terminator movie, producing an adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness and directing a biopic about the man who survived the bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Oh come on, Jimmy, at least give us True Lies 2!

Avatar: The Way of Water is earning plenty of accolades this awards season, with two Golden Globe nominations that could lead directly into Best Picture and Best Director nods at the Academy Awards.

What did you think of Avatar: The Way of Water? Do you think James Cameron devoting so much time to the Avatar sequels is worth the time? Let us know in the comments section below!