James Cameron Has a Script for ‘Avatar 1.5’ and a Plan for ‘Avatar 5’

Avatar: The Way of Water, which opens in theaters on December 16, “is a spectacle worth the wait,” according to Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson. And there’s a lot more blue where that came from. Since the original Avatar’s 2009 bow, filmmaker James Cameron has teased plans for four additional sequels, which has proven to be a long-delayed and incredibly pricey endeavor. But he’s remained steadfast in that vision on his colorful Way of Water press tour and his collaborators are offering new insight on what’s next for Pandora.

In addition to the quintet of Avatar films Cameron has mapped out, he’s also penned a script that takes place between the events of the first two. “Jim [Cameron] gave us a script of 1.5 that he wrote that shows the time between Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, and he wrote a full script,” Sam Worthington, who plays Jake Sully, told Collider in a recent interview. “I said, ‘When do we shoot this one? Because this is amazing.’ He goes, ‘No, no, that’s just something I wrote over the past year to give you his backstory.’”

As for what will be released to the public, Avatar producer Jon Landau teased the direction of the fifth installment, which is currently slated for 2028. “In [Avatar 5] there is a section of the story where we go to Earth,” he told Gizmodo. “And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s [played by Zoe Saldana] eyes, to what exists on Earth.” Landau said that the franchise’s view of Earth is not limited to the RDA [a fictional nefarious organization known as Resources Development Administration]. “Just like you’re defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad. Not all Na’vi are good,” he explained. “And that’s the case here on Earth. And we want to expose Neytiri to that.”

Of course, despite the excitement that exists for Avatar decades after the original film, back in 2017 Cameron told Vanity Fair that his full plan for the franchise isn’t guaranteed to be produced. “Let’s face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don’t make enough money, there’s not going to be a 4 and 5,” he said. “They’re fully encapsulated stories in and of themselves. It builds across the five films to a greater kind of meta-narrative, but they’re fully formed films in their own right.” 

When pressed about what future films may entail, Cameron offered: “It will be a natural extension of all the themes, and the characters, and the spiritual undercurrents. Basically, if you loved the first movie, you’re gonna love these movies, and if you hated it, you’re probably gonna hate these. If you loved it at the time, and you said later you hated it, you’re probably gonna love these.”

Following The Way of Water, Avatar 3 is slated for release in 2024, with Avatar 4 scheduled for 2026, and Avatar 5 planned for 2028.