James Cameron has said he may not direct Avatar four or five, but instead ‘pass the baton’ to a director he ‘trusts’ to do a good job.
The first, long-awaited, sequel to the 2009 flick – Avatar: The Way of Water – is set to land in cinemas later this year, with another planned for release in 2024, 2026 and 2028.
But while the legendary filmmaker will be working on the second and third movies in the franchise, he might be stepping down after that point due to the ‘all-consuming’ nature of the job.
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Speaking to Empire, Cameron said: “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.”
The road to getting Avatar a sequel has been a pretty long one - it was initially due to be released in 2014, just five years after the original, but was hit by various delays.
But all good things to come those wait and fans will finally get their sequel in December.
An official synopsis for the sequel reads: "Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together.
"However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans."
Cameron has previously teased that the new flick would be ‘pushing limits’.
Speaking at CinemaCon, he said: "[We're] pushing limits even farther with high frame rate, higher resolution 3D and greater reality in our visual effects.
"I wanted our return to Pandora to be something really special. Every shot is designed for the biggest screen, highest resolution and most immersive 3D available. I think we pulled it off."
While Stephen Lang, who's returning as Colonel Miles Quaritch, promised EW: "I think [fans will] be enchanted and fascinated. Look, there are people who are going to just adore this world."
Avatar: The Way of Water will land in cinemas on 16 December.
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Topics: Film and TV
Claire Reid