“Avatar 4” & “Avatar 5” Are ‘Full Speed Ahead’?

Last month, filmmaker James Cameron stated at the Saturn Awards that, while an official decision hasn’t been made yet on whether the planned fourth and fifth “Avatar” films would go ahead, it is now “very likely”.

Box-office revenue for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” came in just shy of $1.5 billion, a far cry from the $2.3 billion of the second film and and $2.9 billion of the first.

Questions have lingered as to whether Disney will move forward with the remaining two films Cameron had planned, especially as it is a ‘both or neither’ proposition. The studio’s shift to new CEO Josh D’Amaro hasn’t made the decision any clearer.

Now, producer Rae Sanchini has spoken to Inverse and seems assured that things are going ahead with the projects:

“Right now we’re figuring out the schedule. We’re working hard on it right now, budgeting, scheduling, planning, building out our new pipeline for them. As far as we’re concerned, we’re full speed ahead.”

One of the big issues facing the project will be budget – namely these are expensive films to produce and so getting the costs down will be key. Sanchini tells the outlet the production is “really moving into a more generally accessible platform” as the previous system at Lightstorm was “very bespoke” and had a very steep learning curve. The new system uses “more generally available technology” and aims to streamline things.

She adds that the proposed 2029 and 2031 release dates might have to be updated as those release windows are ‘tentative’ and an actual schedule is aiming to be solidified “in the not too distant future”. She also says: “We have the scripts, they’re brilliant. As far as I’m concerned, we’re heading forward.”

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” became available this week to rent on digital.