James Cameron may not direct Avatar 4 & 5

July 5th 2022, 8:33am

Last Updated on July 18, 2023

Director James Cameron has spent the most recent part of his career crafting his Avatar universe and as we await the release of Avatar: The Way of Water this December, James Cameron is revealing that he may not direct the planned Avatar 4 and 5.

During a chat with Empire, Cameron admits that the Avatar films are time-consuming and he may be at a stage where he wants to work on something else. It’s possible that he will give directing duties to someone he deems worthy to continue the story. Here is what he had to say:

“The Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming. I’ve got some other things I’m developing as well that are exciting. I think eventually over time – I don’t know if that’s after three or after four – I’ll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I’m also interested in. Or maybe not. I don’t know.”

Despite not knowing if he will helm the fourth and fifth installment, he’s very passionate about the upcoming films and he seems pleased about where things are headed:

“Everything I need to say about family, about sustainability, about climate, about the natural world, the themes that are important to me in real life and in my cinematic life, I can say on this canvas. I got more excited as I went along. Movie four is a corker. It’s a motherfucker. I actually hope I get to make it. But it depends on market forces. Three is in the can so it’s coming out regardless. I really hope that we get to make four and five because it’s one big story, ultimately.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that Cameron has passed on directing duties to another capable director. Cameron planned on adapting Alita: Battle Angel for the big screen but he became too busy with the Avatar films at the time. The director ended up tapping Robert Rodriguez to step behind the camera on that film but he remained on board as an executive producer and co-writer.

Do YOU think James Cameron should find someone else to direct Avatar 4 & 5? Avatar: The Way of Water hits screens on December 16, 2022.