James Cameron’s Avatar franchise feels way too big to fail. The visually lush, technologically impossible film series proved it was much more than a one-hit wonder with Avatar: The Way of Water, a sequel 13 years in the making. Both it and the original Avatar grossed a little over $2 billion, so betting against the next film in the franchise feels a bit counterintuitive. Still, there’s a chance, however small, that Fire & Ash doesn’t meet the same record-breaking standards as its predecessors. Even Cameron is aware of a potential box office disappointment — and has a few ideas worth pivoting to in that event.
In a recent interview with Matt Belloni for The Town podcast, Cameron laid out his loose contingency for the future of the Avatar franchise. Though just last year the director seemed determined to see the saga through at least to Avatar 5, he now seems ready to close this chapter of his life if necessary. “I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money,” he told Belloni. “The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”
