James Cameron Calls ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ the Most Emotional Yet, Reveals Audience Reactions

James Cameron’s highly anticipated Avatar: Fire and Ash is set to hit theaters on December 19, 2025, continuing the epic sci-fi saga that began in 2009. As the third installment in the Avatar series, the film will pick up after Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and bring back familiar characters while introducing new ones.

Cameron first announced plans for Avatar sequels back in 2010, after the massive success of the first film. However, developing advanced underwater motion-capture technology and expanding the story led to multiple delays. Filming for Fire and Ash began in 2017 alongside The Way of Water and wrapped in December 2020 after more than three years of work.

Many familiar faces from previous Avatar films are returning, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, and Cliff Curtis. New characters will also be introduced, with David Thewlis and Oona Chaplin joining the cast.

Recently, James Cameron shared that a select group of people has already seen parts of Avatar: Fire and Ash, and their reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. According to Cameron, viewers found it to be the most emotional film in the series so far, with some calling it the best installment yet. He praised the cast’s performances and described the film as “heart-wrenching in a good way.”

“I’ve shown it to a few selected people and the feedback has been it’s definitely the most emotional and maybe the best of the three so far. We’ll find out, you know, but I feel pretty good about it. And the work is exceptional from the actors. It’s pretty heart-wrenching in a good way.”

The Avatar universe is far from over. Two more sequels, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, are already in development and are expected to be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively. With Cameron’s vision and groundbreaking technology, the world of Pandora will continue to expand for years to come.

Cameron also said that he will complete the remaining films of the series in New Zealand, which will take another five to six years. He mentions that he has already written and made preliminary designs for the fourth and fifth movies.

He goes on to say that the production for the third Avatar movie is going well, with about 1000 people currently employed on it, mostly in Wellington. Cameron hopes that the same crew can continue working on the fourth and fifth movies after the third one is completed.

“We’re in very good shape on it. I think we’ve got about 1000 people employed, mostly here in Wellington right now, and hopefully we’ll roll right over into [movies] four and five from that.

“Look, I love to make jobs here. We’re actually moving some of our people over from the US, and we’ll be hiring as well. We’re focusing more of the production here than we have.”

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