Zoe Saldaña looking worried as Neytiri in Avatar Fire and Ash
By
Ryan Northrup
Published 32 minutes ago
Ryan Northrup is a Senior Staff Writer on ScreenRant's Movie News team, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and reviews. A graduate of McMaster University, Ryan began his career in public relations before attending Vancouver Film School. There, he built lasting industry connections and optioned a feature film screenplay.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapAvatar: Fire and Ash seems poised to be a major hit, but James Cameron makes clear that he's prepared to wrap the franchise's story up in an unexpected way should the film underperform.
Speaking on The Town podcast with host Matthew Belloni, Cameron reveals that, despite the success of so many of his past films, he's still nervous about any new movie he makes, and that includes Fire and Ash. Belloni highlights the factors working against the third Avatar movie, including a downturn in theatrical movie-going, a shorter gap between franchise releases, and the movie being harder to market.
Cameron himself agrees, revealing that he's well aware of the challenges that franchise sequels face as theatrical prospects:
"Sequelitis. People tend to dismiss sequels. Unless it's the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is. This is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it."
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) was the end of a trilogy, but Fire and Ash's story is the third installment in a five-movie arc. The director's comment makes clear, however, that this upcoming film can serve as the end of the franchise if need be. And regarding whether he's okay with that outcome, it seems like Cameron's already made his peace with it:
"Absolutely. I've been in Avatar land for 20 years, actually 30 years because I wrote it in '95, but I wasn't working continuously on it for those first ten years."
Addressing Fire and Ash's potential role as a franchise-ender, Cameron reveals that the film wraps up almost all major plot threads for Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family. The one thread left unresolved can be tied up with a smaller multimedia release. "If this is where it ends, cool," Cameron says. "There is one open thread. I'll write a book."
Something else Cameron has long toyed with is whether he'll address Avatar 4 and 5 if Fire and Ash does end up being a success. Though he's still open to passing the baton to another director, he makes clear that he would still be very closely involved in any future Avatar movies:
"Absolutely not. Look, I have choices there. There are levels in which I immerse. I could produce. I don't think there'd ever be another Avatar movie that I didn't produce closely. But in terms of it taking over my life? That's a threshold issue for me."
The challenges facing Fire and Ash that Belloni brings up are worth considering. Avatar: The Way of Water came 13 years after the first movie, and it benefited from a great deal of anticipation and major leaps in terms of the movie's visual presentation of the world of Pandora. The third movie is releasing after a gap of only three years, and the visual upgrade this time around won't be as pronounced.
In terms of box office, it seems unlikely that Fire and Ash will top The Way of Water, which currently stands as the third-highest-grossing movie of all time at $2.3 billion. Still, early signs suggest it won't be landing with a thud.
Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time at $2.9 billion worldwide.
Box office projections for Avatar 3 just arrived, and the film is predicted to open to around $110 million, with estimates starting around $100 million and going up to $130 million. Fire and Ash, then, is projected to open behind The Way of Water's $134 million, but these early figures are still promising.
Worth noting with Avatar is that, unlike MCU releases, these movies are not heavily front-loaded at the box office. The first two movies both had relatively modest openings given their massive budgets, but they enjoyed exceptionally strong legs at the box office over the weeks and months that followed.
Whether Avatar: Fire and Ash will serve as the end of the franchise, then, isn't something that will become clear until well into 2026. If this is the end for Pandora and the Sully family, though, Cameron's comment affirms that audiences should, at the very least, be getting a conclusion that doesn't leave things feeling unfinished.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Like Follow Followed Science Fiction Adventure Fantasy Release Date December 19, 2025 Runtime 195 Minutes Director James Cameron
7 Images
Quaritch looks on in the trailer for Avatar Fire and Ash
Neytiri looks up at Jake in the trailer for Avatar Fire and Ash
Brendan Cowell manning a turret on a boat as Mick Scoresby in Avatar Fire and Ash
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri snarling with a bow in Avatar_ Fire and Ash trailer
Neytiri and Jake walking forward in the Avatar Fire and Ash trailer
Human vehicles in Avatar: Fire and Ash
Spider falling in Avatar: Fire and AshClose
Cast
See All-
Sam Worthington
Jake Sully
-
Zoe Saldana
Neytiri
-
Sigourney Weaver
Kiri
-
Stephen Lang
Colonel Miles Quaritch
Expand
Collapse
-
Movies
-
Avatar
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation email Sort by: Popular Oldest Newest- Terms
- Privacy
- Feedback
5 hours ago
PlayStation Plus Free Games For December 2025 Officially Announced
2 hours ago
Zootopia 2 Box Office Previews Outdo Multiple Billion-Dollar Disney Movies
3 hours ago
Wednesday Season 3 Is Officially Giving Fans What They Want
1 hour ago
Quentin Tarantino's Unfilmed Kill Bill Chapter Finally Brought To Life In Teaser Trailer
More from our brands
Who Dies in Avatar: The Way of Water?
The Truth About the Final ‘Game of Thrones’ Book — Straight From George R.R. Martin
Every Upcoming Release in the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Franchise, Explained
Where to Watch The Legend of Korra Now That It's Not on Netflix
'Avatar: Fire and Ash': What We Know About James Cameron's Smouldering Threeequel
James Cameron Thinks 'Avatar 3' May Be "Rejected by Fans," and I'm Okay With That
It Only Took 2 Minutes for Me to Confirm the Race for Greatest Sci-Fi Movie of 2025 Is Already Over
Trending Now
First Avatar: Fire & Ash Box Office Projections Revealed
Quentin Tarantino Slams Hunger Games As Blatant Ripoff: "Sue Suzanne For Every F**king Thing She Owns"
This Is The Greatest Superhero TV Show Of All Time - Prove Me Wrong
They'll probably make the dead reckoning from it it's a recurring spiritual theme. Theoretically with reuse of digital assets the movies should be easyier to film but they have to film it in succession while the actors are under contract.
These are an attempt to undo element magic in avatar (the Nickelodeon one) which is rumored to be used by me. Let me use earth against this movie. Much cheaper to film. More fun less violence.
2025-11-26 15:58:06 Upvote Downvote Reply Copy