Avatar: The Way of Water is now just a week away from splashing down into theaters, but that's not where James Cameron's plans for Pandora end. The filmmaker has already shot the third instalment along with part of the fourth, though the latter will only move forward if the upcoming sequel is a box office hit.
Beyond that, we know he hopes to make a fifth film, and franchise producer Jon Landau has just dropped quite the bombshell in an interview with io9 (via SFFGazette.com).
He reveals that, if Avatar 5 does happen, we'll see the Na'vi leave Pandora for Earth!
"In movie five there is a section of the story where we go to Earth. And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s eyes, to what exists on Earth," Landau teases, dropping quite the potential spoiler there. "Earth is not just represented by the RDA. Just like you’re defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad. Not all Na’vi are good."
"And that’s the case here on Earth," the veteran producer continued, hinting at what sounds like a bold new direction for the sci-fi series. "And we want to expose Neytiri to that."
In the same interview, he was asked about the leaked sequel titles from several years ago. The Way of Water obviously ended up being used for the sequel, but will Avatar: The Seed Bearer, Avatar: The Tulkun Rider, and Avatar: The Quest For Eywa also crop up in the coming years?
"We have decided on titles, but I would not go by those other three titles that were out there," Landau confirms. "You know, if you roll the dice one in six times, you’ll pick the right number."
We're sure the filmmaker wouldn't have dropped that bombshell about Neytiri by mistake, and do wonder whether Avatar: The Way of Water actually lays the groundwork for her eventual trip to Jake's home. With the sequel now rapidly approaching, it won't be too much longer before we find out!
Are you excited to check the sequel out next weekend?