Avatar: Fire and Ash

• 1. Introduction

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  Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third film in James Cameron's Avatar series. In December 2022, word spread that its first cut ran nine hours. Cameron later clarified the figure. The nine hours covered three films of about three hours each: Fire and Ash, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. He also said Fire and Ash would run longer than The Way of Water, which lasts 3 hours 12 minutes.

  On the 9th of August 2024, at the D23 Disney fan convention, Cameron announced the title and explained it. Fire, he said, refers to hatred, anger and violence. Ash refers to grief and loss.

  The film that carries those words had an estimated budget of at least 350 million dollars. It reached theaters only after a long run of postponed dates. How did a story about one grieving family on the moon Pandora grow so large that it had to be split off from its predecessor? What did it take to finish the work through a pandemic? And when the film opened, did the response justify the scale, or leave the future of the series in doubt?

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• 2. The Writing Room

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  Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were announced as Cameron's co-writers, but the credit hides a crowded process. Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno also contributed to the writing of all the films, before each writer was assigned separate scripts to finish. Cameron said Fire and Ash became its own film because there was too much material for The Way of Water.

  In a 2023 interview, Cameron revealed a new Na'vi clan he called the Ash people, who would be the antagonists. They became the Mangkwan, a ruthless, warmongering clan inspired by the Baining people of Papua New Guinea. Cameron wanted the series to move past the idea that "all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good". He put character development ahead of fresh spectacle.

  The Wind Traders, the nomadic merchants who carry the Sully family across the sky, came from a different source. Cameron said they were inspired by camel caravans on the Spice Road during the Middle Ages.

  The 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, changed the script itself. Cameron rewrote parts of the film so it would not glorify gun violence or engage in "fetishizing" assault weapons. In the earlier version, the Metkayina chose to use guns to defend the Tulkun. Cameron reversed that choice and had the clan reject firearms, because he did not want guns to "contaminate" Na'vi culture.

  Audience reaction to The Way of Water, released in December 2022, shaped more changes. Viewers liked Payakan, the outcast Tulkun, so Cameron gave him a more prominent place in the story. Cameron also partly rewrote the film to add scenes with Toruk, the great predator first seen in the original Avatar.

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• 3. Family and Enemies

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  Neteyam, the eldest son of Jake and Neytiri, is already dead when the film begins, and the Sully family is mourning among the Metkayina. Neytiri's grief hardens into a deeper hatred of humans. Zoe Saldaña described her character as a "full-blown racist" toward humans in this film.

  The trouble starts with Spider, the human teenager the family adopted. His breathing mask runs out of power while he sleeps. Jake and Neytiri decide to return him to the human scientist camp for his safety. The family travels with him aboard a fleet of flying merchant ships.

  Raiders of the Mangkwan, led by their matriarch Varang, ambush that convoy. They loot the ships, set them on fire and scatter the Sullys. Oona Chaplin plays Varang. Cameron said her clan endured "an incredible hardship" that "hardened" her, and that she "will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil".

  Colonel Miles Quaritch, whom Neytiri once killed and who has returned as a Na'vi recombinant, captures Jake. The two then work together to find Spider. When Spider collapses, Jake's adopted daughter Kiri infuses his body with mycelia, and he gains the ability to breathe Pandora's air. Kiri herself learns that she was born from Eywa, yet she is blocked from connecting with her.

  The human scientists Norm Spellman and Max Patel suspect that Spider's mycelia could be reverse engineered, so other humans could breathe on Pandora. Quaritch has other plans. He teaches Varang to use firearms, offers the Mangkwan guns and flamethrowers, and forms an alliance with them. He also begins a romantic relationship with Varang.

  Jake surrenders at the Metkayina village to prevent bloodshed, and he and Spider are taken to the Resources Development Administration base, known as the RDA. Scientists test Spider there, and Jake is scheduled to be executed. Neytiri infiltrates the base, and the RDA biologist Ian Garvin frees Jake. Afterward Jake prepares, with regret, to kill Spider so the RDA can learn nothing more. He cannot do it, and he and Neytiri embrace the boy.

  The climax gathers the Tulkun, the whale-like creatures, and the clans. Jake's son Lo'ak brings the scarred survivors Payakan and Tan'ok before the Tulkun council, and the elders reconsider their pacifism. Jake re-bonds with Toruk and rallies the Na'vi clans. The battle turns when Quaritch and the Mangkwan arrive. Ronal, the Metkayina matriarch, is wounded and dies in childbirth, after Neytiri delivers her baby, Pril.

  With help from Spider and the youngest Sully child, Tuk, Kiri finally reaches Eywa and pleads for help. Pandoran wildlife ambush the remaining RDA forces. Tan'ok kills the Tulkun hunter Mick Scoresby. Jake and Quaritch are thrown into a magnetic flux that destroys the remaining RDA vessels. When Spider falls from a floating rock, the two enemies must save him together. Quaritch throws himself off the rock when Neytiri and her children arrive.

  In the last scene, Spider joins the Metkayina at the underwater spirit trees and meets the Na'vi who have died. Kiri introduces him to her mother, Grace, and they initiate him into the Na'vi people.

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• 4. Casting the Saga

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  Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña had committed to future sequels back when they were cast in the first Avatar. Others joined over the years, and some changed roles on the way. In 2014, Cameron said Sigourney Weaver would appear as a living Grace Augustine. It was later revealed that she would play Kiri, the adopted daughter, instead.

  In August 2017, Cameron announced that Stephen Lang would be the main antagonist in all four sequels. That same month, Matt Gerald was confirmed to return as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet in every sequel to come.

  Kate Winslet's involvement was reported in October 2017, when she was said to have joined as Ronal. She had starred in Cameron's Titanic, and he called working with her a highlight of his career. Winslet was hesitant to work with him again because of the rigorous situations he creates for his actors. She thought the role was strong and well written, though.

  Oona Chaplin joined as Varang in June 2017, with Cameron saying she would appear throughout "the entire saga of the sequels". Eiza González also auditioned. Cameron said Chaplin conveyed the character's fury, sexuality and "dominating psychology" better than the other candidates.

  Dileep Rao was confirmed as Dr. Max Patel in January 2018. In April 2018, David Thewlis announced he was part of the franchise. In 2020, he revealed he would play a Na'vi character in the third, fourth and fifth films. In the finished film, that character is Peylak, the leader of the Wind Traders.

  Two actors from the first film appear only briefly. Wes Studi returns as Eytukan, the chief of the Omaticaya, and Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey, his successor.

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• 5. Years in the Making

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  Cameron first announced the sequels after the success of Avatar in 2009, and he scheduled them for release in 2014 and 2015. He planned to shoot them back-to-back. He also wanted a frame rate higher than the standard 24 frames per second, to add a heightened sense of reality. In late 2013, he said they would be filmed in New Zealand.

  An agreement with the New Zealand government came with conditions. At least one world premiere had to be held in Wellington. At least NZ$500 million, roughly 410 million US dollars, had to be spent on production activity in the country. The government announced it would raise its baseline filmmaking tax rebate from 15% to 20%, with 25% available to international productions in some cases.

  In February 2016, production was scheduled to begin that April. The crew added cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who had worked with Cameron on True Lies and Titanic, and art director Aashrita Kamath. Kirk Krack, founder of Performance Freediving International, trained the cast and crew for underwater scenes. On the 31st of July 2017, Weta Digital in New Zealand began work on the effects.

  Principal photography started on the 25th of September 2017 in Manhattan Beach, California, at the same time as The Way of Water. On the 14th of November 2018, Cameron announced that performance capture filming with the principal cast was complete. Live-action filming in New Zealand began in early 2019.

  The pandemic stopped that work. On the 17th of March 2020, producer Jon Landau announced that filming in New Zealand was postponed indefinitely. Virtual production continued in Manhattan Beach, and visual effects work went on at Weta Digital in Wellington.

  By early May, the New Zealand government had endorsed the production's health and safety protocols. On the 31st of May, part of the crew, including Cameron, was granted entry to New Zealand. The visa category covered foreigners essential to a project of "significant economic value". On the 1st of June 2020, Landau posted a photo on Instagram showing himself and Cameron back in New Zealand. All 55 crew members who traveled there spent two weeks in government-supervised isolation at a hotel in Wellington. That made the two films the first major Hollywood blockbusters to resume production after a pandemic shutdown.

  In September 2020, Cameron said 95% of Fire and Ash was finished, and filming wrapped in December. The calendar slipped just as often. The release was delayed nine times in all. Fire and Ash was first aimed at December 2015, then pushed to 2016-2017 and 2018. In April 2016, a date of December 2020 was announced, and a year later it became the 17th of December 2021.

  In May 2019, three new Star Wars films were announced, and the sequels' dates moved back two years, to the 22nd of December 2023. The pandemic moved the date again, to the 20th of December 2024. The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike produced the final change, announced on the 13th of June 2023. Even after principal photography was essentially complete, the crew was still shooting pick-ups in February 2024.

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• 6. Songs and Trailers

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  In August 2021, Landau announced that Simon Franglen would compose the score for the Avatar sequels. In October 2025, the film's original song "Dream as One" was announced, written by Miley Cyrus with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. It was released on the 14th of November 2025 and plays over the end credits.

  The soundtrack followed on the 5th of December 2025. A second original song, "The Future and the Past", composed by Franglen, closes the album. Saldaña sings it in the fictional Na'vi language.

  The marketing budget was reported at approximately 150 million dollars. In late July 2025, a teaser trailer appeared online and in theaters before screenings of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The full trailer arrived on the 25th of September.

  The studio also used the previous film as a billboard. When The Way of Water returned to theaters in October 2025, each screening randomly attached one of three Fire and Ash clips. It played as a mid-credits scene. In one, Quaritch approached an encampment of Ash Na'vi and confronted Varang. In another, the Sully family boarded a Windtrader ship and met Peylak. The third showed the family in flight on Windtrader ships when Ash Na'vi attacked them.

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• 7. Opening Weekends

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  The world premiere took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on the 1st of December 2025. The United States release came on the 19th of December, from 20th Century Studios, in formats including Dolby Cinema and IMAX 3D. A 4DX version added motion-enabled seats and effects such as wind, water and vibration, timed to aerial and action scenes. The film is dedicated to editor John Refoua and producer Jon Landau, who died in 2023 and 2024.

  Two events elsewhere disrupted the rollout. In Hong Kong, the release was delayed to the 8th of January 2026 because of the Wang Fuk Court fire. The subtitle was dropped to avoid insensitivity. The Australian premiere set for the 15th of December 2025 was cancelled after the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting.

  Forecasts came first. By the 17th of December, Deadline Hollywood projected a worldwide opening weekend of 340 to 380 million dollars. The film opened to 347.1 million dollars worldwide. Thursday previews in the United States and Canada earned 12 million dollars, 5 million less than The Way of Water.

  The domestic weekend total was 89.2 million dollars. That beat the 77 million dollars of the original 2009 film's debut. It fell well short of the 134.1 million dollars The Way of Water earned in 2022. The second weekend brought 63.1 million dollars, a drop of 29%, compared with a 53% second-weekend fall for the predecessor.

  The film stayed at number one for five straight weekends. The third weekend took 41.4 million dollars, the fourth 21.5 million and the fifth 14.5 million. In the sixth weekend, with 6.4 million dollars, it was dethroned by Mercy.

  The final worldwide total was 1.490 billion dollars, with 404.3 million from the United States and Canada and 1.086 billion from other territories. That made it the third-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the 16th-highest of all time, though the lowest earner in the Avatar series. IMAX, which Cameron urged moviegoers to choose, saw fourth-quarter 2025 revenue and operating earnings climb 35% to 125.2 million dollars. The film contributed 112 million dollars in ticket sales and became IMAX's highest-grossing Hollywood film.

  Home release followed in 2026. Digital download with behind-the-scenes featurettes arrived on the 31st of March. Discs came out on the 19th of May from 20th Century Home Entertainment, and streaming on Disney+ was scheduled for the 24th of June. The disc release was also the final in-house physical media production for Buena Vista Home Entertainment, whose entire staff Disney laid off in April 2026.

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• 8. The Verdicts

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  Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A", the same grade as the previous two Avatar films. Critics were more divided. Publications described the reception as ranging from mixed to positive, with early reactions mostly favorable and criticism aimed at the plot.

  Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood called it "a true epic" and "a visual knockout". Max Scoville of IGN wrote that it "isn't the technical leap forward that its predecessor was". He called that expected after three years instead of thirteen, and said refinement on every level more than made up for the lack of novelty.

  David Ehrlich of IndieWire said it "feels like something you've already seen before". Even so, it "naturally finds a way to make the journey feel novel and invigorating at times". Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it "bolder and tighter" than its predecessor. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture declared it the "richest" film in the franchise.

  The harshest reviews came from other quarters. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film a "gigantically dull hunk of nonsense", while granting it "volcanic world-building" and "thunderous action". Stephanie Zacharek of Time wrote that the franchise has "lost its wonder". Robbie Collin of The Telegraph found it humorless and "mind-numbing", and suggested Cameron "is stuck in a creative cul-de-sac". Justin Chang of The New Yorker called it spectacular but a "less transporting experience". Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal called the script "ludicrously weak".

  At the 98th Academy Awards, on the 15th of March 2026, Fire and Ash won Best Visual Effects. The winners were Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett. It was also nominated for Best Costume Design, for Deborah L. Scott. It is the first Avatar film not nominated for Best Picture.

  The Saturn Awards were kinder. With twelve nominations, the film tied The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Sinners for the most at the 53rd ceremony. It won five, including Best Science Fiction Film and Best Film Direction. The film also received two nominations at the 83rd Golden Globes. The American Film Institute and the National Board of Review each named it one of the top ten films of 2025.

  On the 26th of November 2017, Cameron gave a blunt warning in an interview. "Let's face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don't make enough money, there's not going to be a 4 and 5." David Thewlis echoed this in February 2018. In November 2018, Sigourney Weaver said she was "busy doing Avatar 4 and 5". Several outlets read that as proof that filming had begun.

  In January 2019, then-Disney CEO Bob Iger said both sequels were in development but not officially green-lit. A month later, Landau said they were more than green-lit and that a third of Avatar 4 had already been filmed. In September 2022, at the D23 Expo, Cameron announced that production on Avatar 4 had officially begun. In January 2024, he said he would not film the rest of it until Fire and Ash was released.

  In November 2025, Cameron repeated that the last two sequels would not proceed if the third film failed at the box office. He added that he "will write a book" to resolve the "one open thread" it leaves.

  In January 2026, he was still uncommitted. He said the industry was depressed, that Avatar 3 cost a lot of money, and that the films would have to be made more cheaply. He also confirmed that Michelle Yeoh would "definitely" appear in Avatar 4 as a performance capture character named Paktu'eylat, and that she had shot for a few weeks in 2022.

  By March 2026, he called a fourth film "very likely" while noting that the studio had not decided. As of the 20th of March, Disney's calendar listed Avatar 4 for the 21st of December 2029. Avatar 5 was dated for the 19th of December 2031. Producer Rae Sanchini spoke before the digital release on the 31st of March. She said both films were moving into active pre-production, though she called the dates tentative.

  In April 2026, TheWrap reported conversations about making future Avatar films cheaper and shorter, so they would be a less risky investment for Disney. Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore noted that the film earned about half of what the first movie did, and that ticket prices were lower in 2009. He called the situation one of "high-class problems to have".

  In May 2026, on The Empire Film Podcast, Cameron laid out his target for the next films: half the time for two-thirds of the cost. He said it would take about a year to work out how.

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