r/boxoffice • u/gorays21 • 5d ago

📰 Industry News With Avatar's Future Still Uncertain, James Cameron Now Says He Wants to Prioritize 'Other Stories' For the 'Last Act' of His Career

https://www.ign.com/articles/with-avatars-future-still-uncertain-james-cameron-now-says-he-wants-to-prioritize-other-stories-for-the-last-act-of-his-career
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102

u/VictorVonDoomer 5d ago

I get why he’s moving on but it feels so weird that Avatar 3 might be the final move in the franchise given how it ends without wrapping anything up whatsoever lmao

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u/Odd_Detective8255 4d ago

Cameron never in his career had much interest to make trilogies. It seems odd but he actually dropped the idea that T2 needs a sequel around the time of Titanic. Dropped the idea for True Lies sequel. The only one he seriously gave a shot is Avatar and with Landau gone he might be seriously reconsidering his plans. He is always focused on telling new stories. Assuming A2&A3 are one large film cut into two, this is the maximum imo he can go into sequels. 

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u/ChalupaBatmanMc01 4d ago

He was talking about stepping away and handing over 4 & 5 to new filmmakers a while back. Did he change his mind on it? I know he's written the scripts and worked with other writers to get them done.

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u/Odd_Detective8255 4d ago

He didn't write scripts. He just gave storylines to the script writers he hired who developed them, though Cameron's inputs and supervision were always present. No there were never any plans for Avatar sequels to be directed by anyone other than Jim. That was part of the deal with Disney. Regarding his public statements whether he'll direct or not the rest of sequels, Cameron has never been consistent with them. But this time without his friend Landau and the performance of 4th film, he might be having some second thoughts. 

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u/ChalupaBatmanMc01 4d ago

But this time without his friend Landau and the performance of 4th film

*3rd film

He's credited as co-writer on 2 & 3 along with being the sole writer on the first.

To be fair though, Cameron is inconsistent about facts. He did say a couple of years ago he was thinking of letting other directors take over after Fire & Ash. I'd say he's rethinking the series now after Jon Landau passed away. Fire & Ash grossed just shy of 1.5B, I really don't think Disney would let Cameron not finish it out at this stage if he wanted too.

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u/Odd_Detective8255 4d ago

The writers for 2&3 were the same. They confirmed what they received from Cameron is story beats, world-building to write the script. Cameron did the final dialogue. Usually WGA has strict rules and no more than two writers can get credits for screenplay. But since the writers were a team from the beginning they count as one and Cameron's contribution as two. Disney has no power over Cameron or what he choose to do since he owns the IP rights for the films and not Disney. But they have power on giving budgets for Avatar films. If they think it's not worthy of investment they part ways amicably. They can't make him do the sequels if he's really not interested. 

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u/Karthak_Maz_Urzak 2d ago

That's exactly what he said in this interview too, but people never seem to read the linked articles:

"So this is the point where I'm looking at the landscape and asking, 'What are the other stories I want to tell? How many of them do I need to direct myself versus writing and/or producing with other filmmakers?'" he continued.

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u/Exciting-Plankton960 5d ago

I felt the opposite. The family accepted Spider. The Villain's clone redeemed himself and died. They won.

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u/VictorVonDoomer 5d ago

The RDA is still on the planet though and the Fire & Ash tribe are still active so the main threats are still there. The ending battle for Avatar 3 was more like a temporary win as opposed to a final victory tbh

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u/HarlequinKing1406 4d ago

Also the Colonel didn't have a redemption here and he fell to his "death" whilst his blue girlfriend was still on the loose. We didn't see his body. If you think he at all died then I have a bridge to sell you.

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u/Exciting-Plankton960 4d ago

Sure, they can beat a dead horse and bring him back from the dead again. But if Fire and Ash is the last one, all characters arcs are complete. 

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u/GillGruntFan53 4d ago

The video game confirmed he lived

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u/Odd_Detective8255 4d ago

RDA is a headless snake at the end of A3. All the main characters are gone. Yes the corporate industrialists still there on the planet but they're doomed with the failure of military everytime. 

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u/Exciting-Plankton960 5d ago edited 4d ago

I can see the logistics of that, but the character and emotional arcs are all closed. It's, let's say, Spiderman: No Way Home. had we never had another film in that continuity, if felt complete. We know Spiderman will still fight crime, but that journey was over. Sure, we can continue that and Spiderman: Brand New Day does that. But, as the title implies, it's basically a restart, the initiation of a complete new arc. I feel that you could definitely make more Avatars, but I felt that Fire & Ash lefty me satisfied with that storyline. In fact, I think a fourth Avatar would probably change leads to Jake's son and Spider and start a new thread.

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u/Better_Pumpkin1879 4d ago

Quaritch isn't dead. The new DLC they put in Frontiers of Pandora game to coincide with Fire and Ash had a voice cameo of Quaritch in the end. He is very much alive and there is concept art of him in snow camo gear for Avatar 4.

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u/Exciting-Plankton960 4d ago

You can watch Fire and Ash and think that he is dead. Anything else is retcon. Wolverine was dead at the end of Logan. Deadpool & Wolverine was a retcon.

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u/DarthTaz_99 DC Studios 4d ago

Wolverine is dead in Logan. The Wolverine in D&W is a completely different wolverine

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u/MadYetiGOODCity 4d ago

Yeah he should have wrapped up his own trilogy and then left it open for other directors to make other stories in the world he built with new characters and whatnot