Avatar: The Way of Water will make its long-awaited theatrical debut this weekend, looking to dominate the worldwide box office at a record-setting pace. Director James Cameron is wasting no time fueling excitement for a possible fourth addition to the franchise. The self-assured director revealed that the insane script for Avatar 4 was his first Avatar sequel to not receive a single editorial note from studio executives.
Avatar: The Way of Water has tremendous shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of an original project that set the worldwide box office on fire during its theatrical circulation. Cameron's Avatar has earned over $2 billion worldwide and comfortably sits atop the worldwide box office as the highest-grossing film of all time. Towering expectations have naturally been placed on the sequel and those that will follow, but Cameron remains confident that his work is getting better, with the studio seemingly agreeing.
During an interview with Collider, Cameron revealed that the script for Avatar 4 is "nuts" and completely blew studio executives away. Cameron noted that he received notes after submitting his scripts for Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar 3. The fourth installment, however, has sparked something hard to ignore. "When I turned in the script for 4, the studio executive, creative executive over the films wrote me an email that said, 'Holy f**k.'" expressed Cameron. "And I said, 'Well, where are the notes?' And she said, 'Those are the notes.' Because it kind of goes nuts in a good way, right?"
The future of the remaining sequels is heavily dependent upon the theatrical success of Avatar: The Way of Water, which comes after a thirteen-year hiatus between the sequel and the 2009 original film. The overall budget for the film has been kept relatively quiet, with Cameron noting that making the project was an expensive endeavor. Avatar: The Way of Water must be the third or fourth-highest-grossing film of all time to break even. The task is daunting, but not one Cameron is shying away from as he looks to continue developing Pandora. Cameron is hopeful that he will make it to a fourth installment, hinting that Avatar 4 goes beyond what audiences would presumably expect. "You think you know what it's about, and then, oh no, you don't," disclosed Cameron.
Avatar: The Way of Water has yet to hit theaters, but the film is already earning some award-season recognition. The project was recently nominated for two Golden Globes in the Best Picture and Best Director categories. The film will look to dethrone the heavily successful Marvel Studios film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which has dominated the domestic box office for five consecutive weekends. It will be interesting to see how far the Avatar sequel can realistically go and if its success will give life to a fourth installment that appears to go beyond expectations.
Avatar: The Way of Water will hit theaters on December 16, 2022.
Source: Collider