James Cameron’s Avatar still stands as the highest-grossing movie of all time, with a worldwide box office of nearly $3 billion, and Josh Gad could have been a part of it.
In his recently released memoir, In Gad We Trust, the actor recalled auditioning for a “new James Cameron movie called Avatar.” He was up for the role of “Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) best friend and translator to the alien race known as the Na’vi,” and according to Gad, his audition went well, and he might have gotten the part if it wasn’t for one big issue.
“I put myself on tape and shortly thereafter got a call that Cameron wanted to fly me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices,” Gad explained. “I apparently did not get [the role] because, while James Cameron was said to be thrilled with my audition, when I was turned into a digital Avatar I supposedly looked like a tall, overweight Smurf.” That would have been a sight. The role of Dr. Norm Spellman was ultimately played by Joel David Moore. Thankfully, things worked out alright for Gad, who went on to be featured in his own billion-dollar franchise: Frozen.
The next installment of the Avatar franchise will introduce another biome of Pandora, where the “aggressive, volcanic race” of Na’vi, known as the Ash People, reside. Avatar: Fire and Ash is currently set for a December 19, 2025 release, followed by Avatar 4 on December 21, 2029 and Avatar 5 on December 18, 2031. Cameron even has ideas for a potential Avatar 6 and 7, but that all depends on whether the demand for the franchise is still there. “There’ll be just far enough apart that they remain events, hopefully, in the lives of fans, of people who want to follow us, but not so far apart that it’s like there’s a generational difference between one movie,” Cameron said. “We’re fortunate we survived that, right? We got over that hurdle. So now we believe it’s going to come at the right pacing.“
Gad has been working on a sequel to Spaceballs, which he recently said would be a “celebration of all things Mel Brooks.“
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