Cameron On Yeoh & Cost Cutting For “Avatar 4”

If a fourth and fifth “Avatar” go ahead, filmmaker James Cameron has confirmed that it will feature a new cast member – Michelle Yeoh.

The fate of the next two movies remains unclear presently. The film’s box office is still stellar, but is dropping faster than the previous two films. Cameron has already made it clear he could easily move on to other things if it doesn’t reach the heights it needs to justify continuing.

In a new interview with TVBS News Japan, he says the third film must meet certain expectations. In addition, the next two films will also need to be produced on a more cost-effective budget. If it goes ahead, then Yeoh will be involved:

“Michelle is definitely going to be in Avatar 4 — if we make 4. The movie industry is depressed right now. Avatar 3 cost a lot of money. We have to do well in order to continue. We have to do well AND we need to figure out how to make Avatar movies more inexpensively in order to continue.

If we continue and we do 4, we also do 4 & 5 together. So we made 2 & 3 together, one big story. And then 4 & 5 is another big story. Michelle will be in 4 and 5. She will play a performance-capture character. Her character’s name is Paktu’elat [or Palakpuelat], she will be Na’vi.”

Cameron shot a small portion of “Avatar 4” during the late 2010s due to logistics surrounding the ages of the younger cast members (the story includes a major time jump in its first act). Yeoh reportedly did shoot some of those scenes.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is expected to end its run with around $1.6-1.7 billion worldwide, down from the $2.3 billion of the second and $2.9 billion of the first.