James Cameron on why Avatar needs four sequels

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Sure, AVATAR quickly became the highest grossing film in the world with an astounding $2.7 billion and remains one of the most incredible visual experiences I've had in a theater, but not once have I thought that it needed another nine hours of story added on. Still, it's James Cameron playing around in a world of giant blue space monkeys so I'd be lying out of my ass if I didn't say that I will almost certainly be in the theater for each of the upcoming AVATAR sequels.

Speaking of the AVATAR sequels, they've grown in number since they were first announced, from two to three and now four, for a grand total of five AVATAR films including the first. Yikes. As to how they ended up with so many sequels, James Cameron recently told Variety that it was because they simply wrote too much.

The ‘Avatar’ story arc was originally meant to be a trilogy, but I overwrite, and my writers overwrote as well. But basically the first of the sequels cloned itself and became two films, so now it’s four films. And the studio’s very happy with it. They have an opportunity to make more money, but it’s also an opportunity to spend a lot more money, too, so there’s a clench factor.

Even if each of these AVATAR sequels makes half the amount that the first made, that's still an awful lot of money to throw around. Here's hoping that, at the very least, each of these sequels wind up being as entertaining as the first. AVATAR 2 is currently set to hit theaters on Christmas 2018, with the sequels following on 2020, 2022, and 2023. James Cameron was on-hand at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ALIENS, so make sure to check out our coverage of that panel if you missed it!