In a recent interview with Empire, Cameron revealed that he is significantly ahead of the progress made prior to the 2022 release of "The Way of Water," the first sequel in the series. The films were primarily shot over half a decade ago, followed by an extensive multi-year period of visual effects (VFX) and post-production work. "It's looking very promising," he told the U.K. publication. "We've doubled the number of shots completed at this stage compared to the second movie, and both films are roughly the same length. This puts us far ahead of schedule, which is a novel experience for me, to say the least." With a chuckle, he added that the process is "somewhat less of a nightmare. We're reaching a point where we're genuinely getting the hang of it."
"Absolutely, we've crafted some incredibly ingenious action sequences," Cameron said. "This movie will get your adrenaline pumping. But what truly excites me as an artist who has recently turned 70 and has pretty much done it all is not just the chance to do it all over again, but to achieve a level of character depth and intrigue that you haven't seen in an 'Avatar' movie before."
His position implies a dissatisfaction with merely offering more of the same old fare. Yet, as evidenced by other franchise films, such as "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," which dared to tweak their established mythologies or incorporate unexpected narrative turns, we have observed that fans, at times, balk at bold transformations.
"We're just beginning to experiment, twist, and turn the story," Cameron said, referring to the place of this third installment within the overall five-movie saga he has envisioned. "It's a delicate balance. We could be getting carried away, and everyone who sees it might think, 'Hell, that's not what I signed up for.' But if you don't make bold choices, you're just wasting everyone's time and money. While that alone doesn't guarantee success, it's a necessary ingredient. You have to shatter the mold every single time."
On a personal note, we're a bit disappointed that "Avatar 3" is no longer titled "Avatar: The Seed Bearer," as rumored several years ago.
