James Cameron has shared some new details about the upcoming Avatar 3, and it seems like it won’t be what you’re expecting. The auteur says Avatar: Fire And Ash will make some “brave choices” with its storytelling as we return to Pandora once again.
Speaking to Empire magazine, Cameron teased that they’ll raise the stakes with the story in the third movie. “We’re just starting to riff on it and twist it and turn it,” the Oscar-winner said. “It’s a tricky thing. We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it goes, ‘Fuck, that’s not what I signed up for.’ But if you’re not making brave choices, you’re wasting everybody’s time and money. That alone is not sufficient to create success, but it’s necessary. You’ve got to break the mold every fricking time.”
That certainly sounds intriguing, especially as Avatar 3 will focus on a new clan this time, the Ash People. Also known as the Mangkwan Clan, the group is led by Oona Chaplin’s Varang. Most of the main cast are returning too, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver.
Cameron also gave the publication a small tease about where production is at on the new movie, which is due to hit theaters on December 19, 2025. “It’s in strong shape, I think,” the director confirmed, comparing it to the second movie, Avatar: The Way of Water, which came out in 2022. “We’ve doubled the number of shots finished at this stage of the game than we had on movie two [and] the films are about equal length. So that puts us well ahead of the curve, which is something I’ve never, frankly, experienced before.”
This also gives us a bit of a hint about the movie’s runtime, after that nine-hour-cut rumor got a bit out of hand. Avatar: The Way of Water was three hours and 12 minutes long, which means that Avatar: Fire and Ash will likely be about the same length.
For more upcoming movies, check out our guide to 2025 movie release dates to add to your calendar.