Details on the fourth installment’s production aren’t quite concrete, but word is that Avatar 4 is set to hit US screens on December 21, 2029, with Avatar 5 following close on its heels on December 19, 2031. Wan – who, you might be surprised to learn, has yet to set foot on an ‘Avatar’ set – seemed thrilled when asked about the possibility in a chat with ScreenRant, opining “I’d definitely be in, if James Cameron gave me a thumbs up.”
As it happens, Cameron announced back in July 2022 that he was looking to hand the reins to a new director – ideally one he trusts – possibly after the third or fourth film. But then in August 2025, he did a total 180, stating, “There’s no reason I shouldn’t do the fourth and fifth movies – I’m feeling pretty good about my health right now, so all’s good.”
Wan is a master of the horror genre thanks to works like “The Conjuring” and “Saw”, but he’s also shown his ability to create visually stunning underwater scenes in “Aquaman” and a beautiful family dynamic in “Furious 7” back in 2015. Were he to take the helm for Avatar 4, he’d be a top contender to replace Cameron if he were to step down.
The script for the fourth movie is actually already done and some scenes have already been shot – but Cameron has expressed some doubts about whether the series can keep chugging along, with a $1 billion plus box office haul no longer a given. ‘If this is the end, so be it,’ he quipped in an interview – before musing about the idea of just throwing in the towel halfway through. That was before casually propping up the idea of doing a big press conference to reveal the plot. Meanwhile, the worldwide box office bonanza that was “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (apparently the third film to rake in over $1 billion in 2025 – alongside the live action “Lilo & Stitch” and not-yet-released “Zootopia 2”) cost an estimated $400 million to make.
