Could Fire and Ash be the end of Avatar? That remains an open question.
Two more films are planned, with scripts completed and large sections of the performances already captured. Even so, the future of the saga now rests with James Cameron and the audience.
“Not to be provocative, but in a sense, not everything is in Jim’s hands,” Stephen Lang, who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, tells The National. “The fans have a lot to say. There’s a life to Avatar that goes beyond us, and even beyond Jim Cameron at this point.”
Cameron is acutely aware of that reality. The Avatar films are among the most expensive and time-consuming productions in the medium's history. Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni in November, he framed the decision in blunt terms: “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?”
That answer will not be clear for months. Early signs, however, suggest the latest film is performing as expected, taking in more than $136 million worldwide on its first day of release.
Cameron, 71, also has other projects he still hopes to make, as he told The Hollywood Reporter. Of equal consideration is how driven he feels once he's able to rest, Sam Worthington, who has played Jake Sully since the 2009 original, explains.
"Jim has a grand plan, but he's only just finished. He needs to reconnect with himself and get a life back before he decides anything,” Worthington says.
And several options are on the table. Cameron has also said he would be open to concluding the Avatar story in novel form if films four and five do not go ahead. Worthington is comfortable with that possibility.
“If we get to keep going on the journey with him, that’s exciting,” he says. “If we don’t, and he goes and does what he wants to do to create, that’s cool, too.”
In Worthington's mind, a novel would be a natural extension of the way Cameron already approaches the saga. After all, they've been fundamentally literary since the script was originally written – and only become more so through production.
“Jim’s approach is very novelistic,” he says. “Films two and three are the same film. When I read the script, it was very dense, like a novel. Jim thinks on a bigger scale. He’s not a sequel guy – he’s thinking about this like Tolkien.”
That perspective helps to explain why Avatar continues to sit apart from most modern franchises. Cameron returns to the same world with each film, allowing it to deepen over time. Characters age. Relationships shift. Emotional threads carry forward rather than being reset for the next instalment.
And while much of that may happen on the page, with scripts written years in advance, the story continues to evolve throughout production. Lang describes the actors as “co-authors” of their characters, shaping them alongside Cameron as the films take form.
How they each add to the story creatively depends on each performer's process, Worthington explains.
“You can’t direct everyone the same way,” he says. “With me, it’s very organic. We don’t necessarily sit and talk through Jake. We do it, and out of that I discover the character. Jim and I know each other well enough to feel when something is working. Sometimes, it’s just a look that tells me to keep going and exploring. Other actors work differently – Stephen sits and writes with him, for instance – whereas mine tends to happen in the moment.”
And that goes on for years – Fire and Ash, for instance, was being filmed off and on from 2017 until earlier this year. That process has altered Worthington’s relationship not only with Jake Sully, but with acting itself.
The role is something he carries with him, shaped by time and experience rather than reconstructed between films. He moves from project to project knowing he will return, and that whatever he learns elsewhere will feed back into Avatar.
“I do other movies to try to learn how to act,” he says. “Then when I come back, hopefully I’ve learnt more to help Jim tell this story.”
For Worthington, whatever comes next matters less than the years already spent telling the story. If it ends with Fire and Ash, that’s enough.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is in cinemas now globally
