Cameron, who had stated in mid-2006 that he would like to make sequels toAvatar (2009) if it was successful, announced the first two sequels in early 2010 following the success of the first film, with the then-untitledAvatar 3 aiming for a December 2015 release.[5][6] However, the addition of two more sequels (four in total), and the development of new technology required to filmperformance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, pre-production, and visual effects.[7]Avatar: Fire and Ash started shootingsimultaneously withAvatar: The Way of Water inNew Zealand on September 25, 2017; filming completed in late December 2020, after over three years of shooting.
The film's theatrical release has been subject to nine delays, with the latest occurring on June 13, 2023;[1][8] it is set to have its world premiere atDolby Theatre,Hollywood, on December 1, 2025, and is scheduled for release in the United States on December 19.[1][4][9] Two additional sequels,Avatar 4 andAvatar 5, are in various stages of production and are expected to be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively.
A year after settling in with theMetkayina clan,Jake andNeytiri's family grapples with grief after Neteyam's death. They encounter a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe, the Mangkwan clan, also called the Ash People, led by the fiery tribe leader, Varang, who has allied with Jake's enemy,Quaritch, as the conflict onPandora escalates to devastating consequences.[10][11]
Sam Worthington as Former CorporalJake Sully, a former human and Colonel Miles Quaritch's former informer later arch-rival who fell in love with Neytiri and befriended the Na'vi after becoming a part of the Avatar Program, eventually taking their side in their conflict with humans and transferred his mind into his avatar permanently. In the second film, he and his family have left the Omatikaya clan and joined the Metkayina clan.[12][13]
Zoe Saldaña asNeytiri, Jake's wife who left the Omatikaya, and joined the Metkayina.[12]
Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi avatar who was adopted by Jake and Neytiri.[14]
Stephen Lang asColonel Miles Quaritch, formerly a human military commander who led the forces of the RDA, the human organization colonizingPandora, and died in their conflict with the Na'vi in 2154. He and other fallen soldiers were later resurrected as Avatar "recombinants". He seeks revenge against Jake and his family including his son Miles "Spider" Socorro.[15]
Oona Chaplin as Varang, the Na'vi leader of the volcano-dwelling Mangkwan clan.[16][17][18][19] Cameron said of Varang that "Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She's hardened by that. She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil."[20]
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, chieftain of the reef people clan of Metkayina.[21][22]
Jack Champion as Miles "Spider" Socorro, the teenaged son of Quaritch born inHell's Gate (the human base on Pandora in the first film) who was rescued and adopted by Jake and Neytiri after the latter had previously killed Quaritch.[23][24][25][28]
Bailey Bass as Tsireya ("Reya"), a graceful and strongfree diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal's daughter. In the second film, Tsireya emerges as Lo'ak's love interest.[23][24][25][29]
Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the disgraced former head administrator for the RDA mining operation in the first film.[34][35][36]
Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, a former scientist of the Avatar Program who chose to side with the Na'vi in the first film.[37]
CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the Omatikaya's spiritual leader and Neytiri's mother.[38][39]
Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore, Quaritch's successor as commander of the RDA's military operations.[40]
Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby, the former commander of a private sector marine hunting vessel on the planet of Pandora who previously lost an arm to Payakan.[41][42]
Filip Geljo as Ao'nung, a young male hunter and free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal's son.[23][24][25]
Duane Evans, Jr. as Rotxo, a young male hunter and free diver of the Metkayina.
Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who worked in the Avatar Program and came to support Jake's rebellion against the RDA.[44]
Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, a mercenary who fought and died in the RDA's battle against the Na'vi in 2154. Years later, the RDA placed his memories into a recombinant.[45]
In mid-2006,James Cameron stated that ifAvatar was successful, he hoped to make twosequels to the film.[5] In early 2010, he said that the film's widespread success confirmed that he would do so.[6] The sequels were originally scheduled for release inDecember 2014 and 2015.[7] He included certain scenes in the first film for future story follow-ups.[5][53] Cameron planned to shoot the sequelsback-to-back and to begin work "once the novel is nailed down".[54] The sequels were confirmed as continuing to follow the characters of Jake and Neytiri in December 2009.[55] Cameron implied that the humans would return as the antagonists of the story.[56] In early 2011, Cameron stated his intention to film the sequels at ahigher frame rate than the industry standard 24 frames per second, in order to add a heightened sense of reality.[57]
In late 2013, Cameron announced that the sequels would be filmed in New Zealand, with performance capture to take place in 2014. An agreement with theNew Zealand government required at least one world premiere to be held inWellington and at leastNZ$500 million (approximately US$410 million at December 2013 exchange rates) to be spent on production activity in New Zealand, including live-action filming and visual effects. The New Zealand government announced it would raise its baseline tax rebate for filmmaking from 15% to 20%, with 25% available to international productions in some cases and 40% for New Zealand productions (as defined by section 18 of theNew Zealand Film Commission Act 1978).[58][59]
Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were originally announced as Cameron's co-writers; it was later announced that Cameron, Jaffa, Silver,Josh Friedman, andShane Salerno took a part in the writing process of all of the sequels before being assigned to finish the separate scripts, making the eventual writing credits unclear.[66][67][68][69][70] According to Cameron, this film was split off fromAvatar: The Way of Water because the original conception of that film had too much material.[71] Cameron stated: "In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of movie 2. The [film] was moving like a bullet train, and we weren't drilling down enough on character. So I said, 'Guys, we've got to split it.'"[71]
In November 2018,BBC News reported thatAvatar: The Seed Bearer was a potential title for the film after getting a scoop for the future plans.[72] Three months later, Cameron toldEntertainment Tonight that it is in consideration and no final decision was made at that time.[73] On August 9, 2024, the official title of the film was revealed by Cameron asAvatar: Fire and Ash at theD23 fan convention.[74] Cameron said of the title "I don't think I could say too much about it until you actually see the film and you see what it means, but if you think of fire as hatred, anger, violence, that sort of thing, and ash is the aftermath. So what's the aftermath? Grief, loss, right? And then what does that cause in the future? More violence, more anger, more hatred. It's a vicious cycle. So that's the thinking."[75]
Cameron wanted to explore "different cultures" from the first twoAvatar films by including "Ash People"—fiery versions of Na'vi. He chose them to add "another angle" as enemies because Cameron previously took Na'vi "good sides" and humans on another.[76] Landau said:
"There are good humans, and there are bad humans—the same thing on the Na'avi [sic] side—but oftentimes, people don't see themselves as bad. What is the root cause of how they evolve into what we perceive as bad? Maybe there are other factors there that we're not aware of."[18]
Cameron said that "One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic. Or blue-and-pink simplistic. … We’re trying to evolve beyond the 'all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good' paradigm."[20]
The film also introduces Wind Traders, who Cameron explained are "nomadic traders, equivalent to the camel caravans of the Spice Road back in the Middle Ages. And you know, they’re just fun. Like all Na'vi, they live in a symbiosis with their creatures".[77]
Cameron also said that:
The big [creative] advance in ['Fire and Ash'] is just going to be greater character depth," Cameron said. "We're seeing new cultures, new creatures—all the same stuff you'd expect from an 'Avatar' movie, but the whole idea of this cycle of films is to live with these people and go on this epic journey with them. So I think it's not about, 'We're going to show you the best water [VFX] ever done'—but you get more into the heart and soul of the characters. And there's some very interesting new characters that come in as well. This is a journey over time. It will play out through movie three, into movie four and movie five. There's an epic cycle to the whole thing.[78]
Champion said of reading the script forFire and Ash:
"I was very shocked by it. It just takes a hard left turn, and that's not a bad thing. You think you know where it's going, but then a wrecking ball comes. So you're completely like, 'Oh wow, I never thought that would've happened.' You also see more regions of Pandora, and you get introduced to more cultures. So I think it's even better thanAvatar 2. Collectively, they'll each get better."[79]
Sam Worthington andZoe Saldaña were confirmed in January 2010 to have signed on to reprise their roles in the sequels.[53] Cameron also stated thatSigourney Weaver would be featured in all three sequels (the fourth one was not planned at the time) and that her character Grace Augustine would be alive, but it was later revealed she would instead be playing Kiri, Jake and Neytiri's adopted daughter.[14][80] In August 2017, in an interview withEmpire, Cameron revealed thatStephen Lang would not only be returning in all four sequels but he would also be the mainvillain in all four films.[81]
In August 2017,Matt Gerald had officially signed on to portray his first film's role Corporal Lyle Wainfleet in all upcoming sequels.[82] On October 3, 2017,Kate Winslet had signed on for all four sequels in an unspecified role.[83] Cameron commented, "Kate and I had been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration onTitanic, which was one of the most rewarding of my career", and added that her character was named Ronal.[30][31][84] On January 25, 2018,Dileep Rao was confirmed to return as Dr. Max Patel.[44] Winslet commented that her role was "relatively small comparative to the lengthy shoot", as she would only have one month of shootings, but also "a pivotal character in the ongoing story".[85]
In June 2017,Oona Chaplin joined the cast as Varang, "a strong and vibrant central character who spans the entire saga of the sequels" starting withFire and Ash.[16][86]Eiza González also auditioned for Chaplin's role.[87] In April 2018,David Thewlis revealed his involvement in the franchise, stating that he would be featured in three of the four sequels, later stating in January 2020 that his character was a Na'vi.[46][47][49] This led to Thewlis being largely reported as part of the cast ofAvatar: The Way of Water; however, he stated in June 2020 that the reports were wrong, and that he would actually be a part ofAvatar: Fire and Ash up to5.[51]
Principal photography onAvatar: The Way of Water andFire and Ash began simultaneously on September 25, 2017, inManhattan Beach, California.[88] On November 14, 2018, Cameron announced filming with the principal performance capture cast had been completed.[89] Most filming on the next two sequels will begin after wrapping the post-production on first two sequels.[90][91] According to producer Jon Landau, live-action filming forAvatar: Fire and Ash and its predecessor commenced in New Zealand in early 2019.[92] On March 17, 2020, Landau announced that the filming of theAvatar sequel films in New Zealand had been postponed indefinitely in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic. He also confirmed that production would remain in Los Angeles.[93] However, work on visual effects continued atWeta Digital inWellington.[94]
In early May, health and safety production protocols had been endorsed by the New Zealand government, allowing filming to resume in the country.[95] On May 31, part of theAvatar crew including James Cameron were granted entry into New Zealand under a special visa category for border exemptions for foreigners deemed essential to a project of "significant economic value".[96] On June 1, 2020, Landau posted a picture of himself and Cameron onInstagram, showing that they had returned to New Zealand to resume filming. After their arrival, all 55 crew members who had traveled to New Zealand started a 2-week government-supervised isolation period at a hotel in Wellington before they would resume filming. This would makeAvatar: The Way of Water andAvatar: Fire and Ash the first major Hollywood blockbusters to resume production after postponing filming due to the pandemic.[97][non-primary source needed][98][99][100] In September 2020, Cameron announced that 95% ofAvatar: Fire and Ash had been completed.[101][102] Filmingwrapped in December 2020.[103]
Following the December 2022 release ofThe Way of Water, Cameron decided to partially rewrite the script of the film to incorporate scenes involving the bird character of Toruk, which was introduced in the first film.[104]
In February 2024, Cameron gave the following update onAvatar: Fire and Ash:
It's pretty much in the can. We're shootingpick-ups on [Fire and Ash], which is just filling in the last 2 or 3%, and we've also got live-action pick-ups in June, that's another couple percent. We've got about a quarter of movie 4 in the can. We're post on [Fire and Ash] and now doing the VFX, which is an enormous job. I'll need every second between now and then to get it done.The tech has reached the point right now where it's really what we need. We make little improvements as we go along, but we're there. The whole point is we jumped back, that's why we spent seven years building to it and four years shooting the two films together. It's not about the technology, but about the minds and eyes of the computer artists. It's a very, very creative process—it's artistry. Thousands of people are involved and conducting the orchestra to get it allpitch perfect right now.[105]
In late July 2025, theteaser trailer was officially released exclusively in theaters before screenings ofThe Fantastic Four: First Steps and online on July 28, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.PT.[110][111][112] The trailer received positive responses from critics and fan sites, particularly focusing on the visuals.[110]
In October 2025,Avatar: The Way of Water was re-released in theaters, with one of threemovie clips fromAvatar: Fire and Ash randomly inserted as a mid-credits scene. One of the scenes shows Quaritch approaching an encampment of Ash Na'vi, and having a confrontation with Varang. Another of the scenes shows Sully's family boarding a Windtrader ship and meeting with Peylak. A third scene starts with the Sully family flying in the Windtrader ships when they are attacked by Ash Na'vi.[115]
Avatar: Fire and Ash is scheduled to be released on December 19, 2025, by20th Century Studios.[9][116] Like its predecessor, the film was subject to multiple delays (in this case, nine in total) since the crew took more time on the writing, pre-production and visual effects process. It was originally scheduled for December 2015,[12] until Cameron pushed the release to 2016, 2017 and 2018.[117] In April 2016, coinciding with the launch of fourAvatar sequels, a new release date of December 2020 was announced.[118] The following year, a new release date of December 17, 2021, was announced, with the recurring sequels:Avatar4 and5 scheduled for release on December 20, 2024, and December 19, 2025, respectively.[4] However, following the announcement in May 2019 of three newStar Wars films,[119] the sequels' release dates were pushed back by two years, withAvatar: Fire and Ash, being scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023.[120] The release date was again deferred due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and in August 2020, a new release of December 20, 2024, was announced.[121][122] Another delay was announced on June 13, 2023, this time due to the2023 Writers Guild of America strike, pushing the film to December 19, 2025.[9][116]Avatar: Fire and Ash and its forthcoming sequels will be released inDolby Vision.[123]
In December 2022, shortly afterAvatar: The Way of Water was released, it was stated that James Cameron's first cut ofAvatar: Fire and Ash had a running time of nine hours.[124] Cameron later clarified that the nine hours of material referred toAvatar: Fire and Ash,Avatar 4 andAvatar 5 being each three-hour films for a total of nine hours.[125][126] He later specified that the run time ofAvatar: Fire and Ash would be longer than the 3 hour 12 minute run time ofAvatar: The Way of Water.[71]
Cameron revealed in a 2023 interview with20 minutes that the film would feature a new Na'vi tribe, called the "Ash people", who will be the antagonists of the film.[127]
Avatar: Fire and Ash is the second of four planned sequels toAvatar. Although the last two sequels had been reportedly green-lit, Cameron stated in a November 26, 2017, interview: "Let's face it, ifAvatar 2 and 3 don't make enough money, there's not going to be a4 and5."[129]David Thewlis later confirmed this in February 2018, stating "they're making2 and3, they're gonna see if people go and see them, and then they'll make4 and5".[46] Conversely,Sigourney Weaver stated in November 2018, after the first two sequels had completed main photography, that she was currently "busy doingAvatar 4 and5", which several media outlets interpreted as confirmation that the last two sequels had started filming.[130][131][132]. Cameron has stated that just likeAvatar: The Way of Water andAvatar: Fire and Ash "really tell one big story",Avatar 4 andAvatar 5 are also intended to "tell one big story."[133]
In January 2019, in face of theproposed acquisition of21st Century Fox bythe Walt Disney Company, Disney CEOBob Iger confirmed that bothAvatar 4 andAvatar 5 were being developed but had not been officially green-lit.[134] According to producerJon Landau in February 2019, Iger may have been misinterpreted. He said thatAvatar 4 and5 "are not only [greenlit]" but also a third ofAvatar 4 has already been filmed.[91]
In September 2022, at the D23 Expo, Cameron announced that production forAvatar 4 had officially begun.[135] In January 2024, Cameron said that he would not start filming the remainder ofAvatar 4 untilFire and Ash is released.[136]
