Avatar 3 Received Pushback From Studio, Reveals James Cameron
James Cameron says the road to making Avatar 3 wasn’t as smooth as fans might assume. The filmmaker revealed that the studio pushed back when he chose to split the original follow-up into two films, ultimately reshaping the entire franchise and adding a third one earlier than planned.
James Cameron received pushback from studio after deciding to split Avatar 2 and 3
James Cameron told Discussing Film that the expansion from three planned sequels to four didn’t initially sit well with the studio. After the historic success of Avatar in 2009, he gathered a writer’s room to build out the story across three films. But as development went on, the structure shifted.
“We were working on three scripts, and then it turned into four… Two got split into two and three,” he explained, sharing that the original script for Avatar: The Way of Water eventually became both The Way of Water and an upcoming third movie, Fire and Ash. The adjustment pushed what was supposed to be the third film into fourth position, expanding the franchise to five entries overall.
According to Cameron, not everyone was enthusiastic about that change. “I actually got a fair bit of pushback from the studio,” he said. But he didn’t hesitate to counter, stating, “My counterargument was, ‘Wait a minute. What part of you getting another chance to make $2 billion is in question here?’”
His confidence wasn’t unfounded. The first Avatar still holds the record as the highest-grossing film in history with $2.9 billion, and The Way of Water in 2022 went on to earn $2.3 billion worldwide. With that track record, Avatar 3 now faces the challenge of crossing the $2 billion mark when it opens later this month.
Moreover, Cameron has already filmed scenes for Avatar 4, but whether he finishes that sequel and moves ahead to Avatar 5 depends on the performance of Avatar 3, which is releasing in theaters on December 19.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on SuperHeroHype.
Source: Comingsoon.net