James Cameron says he’ll hold press conference if Avatar films end after Fire and Ash

James Cameron says he will hold a press conference to reveal the plot lines for the planned sequels in the Avatar franchise on the off chance it ends after the recently released Fire and Ash.

The third instalment in the sci-fi epic was released earlier this month, three years after Avatar: The Way of Water, the belated sequel to the 2009 blockbuster Avatar.

“I don’t know if the saga goes beyond this point. I hope it does,” the Titanic director told Entertainment Weekly.

“But, you know, we prove that business case every time we go out.”

The latest film opened with an $88m domestic debut but fell short of the projected $100m.

“If we don’t get to make 4 and 5, for whatever reason, I’ll hold a press conference and I’ll tell you what we were gonna do. How’s that?” Cameron said.

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Cameron added that even though “there’s no business model for it anymore” and “people aren’t reading”, he could turn the scripts for Avatar 4 and 5 into novels.

“There’s so much culture and backstory and lateral detail in these characters that’s been worked out. I’d love to do something that’s at that level of granular detail,” he said.

“But anyway, it might be good to have the canonical record of what it was all supposed to be.”

Earlier this month, Cameron said the same thing, that if the film left open threads, he would turn the remaining story into a book.

“I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?” he told Matt Belloni on The Town podcast, before adding: “If this is where it ends, cool.”

Acknowledging a plot line the third film didn’t quite tie up, Cameron said: “There’s one open thread. I’ll write a book!”

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The new instalment in the series had big shoes to fill after the 2022 sequel Avatar: The Way of Water’s opening weekend hit $134m. However, there’s still a chance that Cameron’s third trip to Pandora will catch up to its predecessors: the franchise is known for keeping good numbers during theatre runs as well as performing well globally. Avatar: Fire and Ash has already landed a massive $345m and is expected to follow the franchise’s slow-burn pattern.

The film picks up immediately after the events of the second, in which human Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) embraces his new life on Pandora with Netriyi (Zoe Saldaña), a member of the indigenous Na’vi tribe, and their children. After a threat resurfaces, forcing them to flee their home, they must band together with another Na’vi tribe to fight against the humans.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is playing in theatres.