James Cameron Explains Why He Spent 20 Years on Avatar & Its Sequels

With the long-running Avatar franchise continuing to expand with the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, director James Cameron has come out to divulge his philosophy behind expanding the beloved film series. In a recent discussion, the veteran filmmaker opened up about his vision behind why he has dedicated the better part of two decades to building the Avatar universe, even pointing out that the movies’ exemplary box office record was not his driving force.

James Cameron says he is making Avatar movies to ‘help connect’ people

During a recent conversation, the Titanic director noted that his main objective behind exploring the Na’vi lore was to help people connect as human beings and bring them closer to nature.

“I’ve justified making Avatar movies to myself for the last 20 years, not based on how much money we made, but on the basis that hopefully it can do some good, it can help connect us, it can help connect us to our lost aspect of ourselves that connects with nature and respects nature and all those things,” James Cameron explained to Rolling Stone.

Regardless of the Hollywood veteran’s comments, the Avatar film series has proven to be a commercial juggernaut. The two entries in the franchise garnered a combined $5.24 billion. While the original Avatar film continues to lead the list of the highest-grossing movies of all time, its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, comfortably occupies the third spot.

Cameron further explained his ideology behind making the Avatar films by saying, “Do I think that movies are the answer to our human problems? No, I think they’re limited because people sometimes just want entertainment, and they don’t want to be challenged in that way. I think Avatar is a Trojan horse strategy that gets you into a piece of entertainment, but then works on your brain and your heart a little bit in a way.”

Additionally, James Cameron recently noted that he fully intends to oversee the development of the confirmed films beyond the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash in the franchise. The untitled sequels have already received confirmed release dates. Avatar 4 is on track to come out on December 21, 2029, and Avatar 5 will follow on December 19, 2031.

Meanwhile, the third installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, will hit theaters on December 19, 2025.

Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net