‘Avatar 4’ To Have Six-Year Time Jump, Will Resume Filming In 2026
In a new interview with PEOPLE Magazine, James Cameron provided an update on the third Avatar movie, saying it’s right on track to come out in December 2025.
Cameron also gave some details on the fourth Avatar movie, currently scheduled for late 2028. It was revealed last year that the production had shot one third of Avatar 4 while on set for Avatar 3, and now we know why. Apparently, the fourth movie will have a big, six-year time jump past the first act.
To keep the ages of the kids consistent on and off-screen, Cameron wanted to shoot the pre-time jump part at the same time as the third film, so that there isn’t a big distinction between how they look in the third and fourth films.
That also means they had to wait a few years to shoot the other 2/3 of the film. In the interview, the director said they are waiting for Avatar 3 to come out to resume shooting on the fourth one:
“We did the [motion capture] capture on three and the live-action photography on three as an intermingled production with [‘Avatar: The Way of Water’], and we even did part of movie four because our young characters are all going to have a big time jump in movie four.
“We see them and then we go away for six years and we come back. And so the part where we come back is the part we haven’t shot yet. So we’ll start on that after three is released.”
Nothing from the fifth film has been shot yet. The script for Avatar 4, which Josh Friedman wrote, is said to be outstanding. Cameron was reinvigorated last year after the massive hit that The Way of Water was, and Disney greenlit films 4 and 5. He’s said that he didn’t know for sure if he would direct them, but judging from his comments, it looks like he will be at least back for Avatar 4. He’s expressed in previous interviews how hyped he is for the final sequels.
Little is known at the moment about Avatar 3, other than we’ll get to meet a new race of the Na’vi, who will be the most antagonistic yet. They are the fire-based Ash People, and their lead is played by Oona Chaplin. Cameron has also insisted in recent interviews that, despite rumors, the title of the threequel will not be The Seed Bearer.
Avatar 3 is currently scheduled for December 19, 2025. It was pushed back an entire year early in the summer, possibly to give Cameron more time in post. Apparently, he’s also working on a longer cut that would release on Disney Plus later.
The world of Pandora was just expanded through the video game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
