James Cameron says financial success of Avatar 2: The Way of Water will decide fate of sequels 

One of the most expected films of this year should be James Cameron’s Avatar 2: The Way of Water. The film is the sequel to the 2009 sci-fi film and scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on 16 December 2022.

With a runtime of three hours and 10 minutes, which is 30 minutes longer than the original film, James Cameron took a decade-long hiatus from filmmaking to work on the Avatar sequels. It was previously announced that James Cameron was simultaneously working on Avatar 3, 4, and 5.

According to reports, James will be closely monitoring the financial success of the sequel, which will determine the future of the Avatar franchise. "The market could be telling us we're done in three months, or we might be semi-done, meaning: 'OK, let's complete the story within movie three, and not go on endlessly', if it's just not profitable," James said in an interview with Total Film.

"We're in a different world now than we were when I wrote this stuff, even. It's the one-two punch -- the pandemic and streaming. Or, conversely, maybe we'll remind people what going to the theatre is all about. This film definitely does that. The question is: how many people give a shit now?" the director was quoted as saying by Deadline.

"The Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming. I've got some other things I'm developing as well that are exciting. I think eventually over time -- I don't know if that's after three or after four -- I'll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can go do some other stuff that I'm also interested in. Or maybe not. I don't know,” Cameron told Empire magazine earlier.