Avatar: Fire and Ash

"Avatar 3" and "Fire and Ash" redirect here. For the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, see Avatar: The Last Airbender season 3. For other uses, see Fire and Ash (disambiguation).

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Official logo
Directed byJames Cameron
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRussell Carpenter
Edited by
Music bySimon Franglen
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Studios
Release date
  • December 19, 2025 (2025-12-19)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$250 million[1]

Avatar: Fire and Ash is an upcoming American epic science fiction film co-produced, co-edited, co-written, and directed by James Cameron.[2] Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the third installment in the Avatar film series.

Cameron had been producing the film with Jon Landau. Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno were involved in the writing process. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, and Giovanni Ribisi reprise their roles from previous films, while David Thewlis and Oona Chaplin portray new characters.

Cameron, who had stated in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar (2009) if it were successful, announced the first two sequels in 2010 following the widespread success of the first film, with the then-untitled Avatar 3 aiming for a 2015 release.[3][4] However, the addition of two more sequels (four in total), and the development of new technology required to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, pre-production, and visual effects.[5] Avatar: Fire and Ash started shooting simultaneously with Avatar: The Way of Water in New Zealand on September 25, 2017; filming completed in late December 2020, after over three years of shooting.

The film's theatrical release has been subject to nine delays, with the latest occurring on June 13, 2023;[6] it is scheduled for release on December 19, 2025.[2][7] Two additional sequels, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, are in various stages of production and are expected to be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively.

  1. ^ Cabin, Chris (September 30, 2017). "The 'Avatar' Sequels "Will Be the Most Expensive Movies of All Time," According to Fox". Collider. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b McNary, Dave (April 22, 2017). "'Avatar' Sequel Release Dates Set, Starting in December 2020". Variety. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  3. ^ Carroll, Larry (June 29, 2006). "'Titanic' Mastermind James Cameron's King-Size Comeback: Two Sci-Fi Trilogies". MTV. Archived from the original on July 5, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
  4. ^ Rosenberg, Adam (January 8, 2010). "'Avatar' Sequel Confirmed By James Cameron... And Here's What We'd Like To See". MTV. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  5. ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 27, 2010). "James Cameron's 5-year plan". Variety. Archived from the original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  6. ^ White, Adam (July 23, 2020). "Avatar 2 delayed indefinitely due to coronavirus, confirms James Cameron". The Independent. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference WGA delay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).