Well over a decade since it was released, Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie in history, with just shy of $3 billion at the global box office. Even Avengers: Endgame could only dethrone the sci-fi blockbuster for a short time, and all eyes are on this month's Avatar: The Way of Water when it comes to how it will compare to its predecessor.
Since 2009, the franchise has expanded into Disney World's Animal Kingdom, with Pandora now one of the theme park's biggest draws. Avatar, meanwhile, is now owned by Disney after the company acquired 20th Century Fox.
It's no wonder then that the studio is forging ahead with at least one more movie after this sequel, with the plan to potentially release as many as four more big screen outings after The Way of Water. Could the franchise expand to Disney+? For the time being, that doesn't appear to be a priority for filmmaker James Cameron.
"The problem with these CG characters is that they’re so cost- and labour-intensive that it really doesn’t work for TV," he tells The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com). "Now, come back in 10 years, with a lot of machine deep learning. Insert it into our pipeline, which we hope to do, over time."
"We might be able to get to a TV schedule, but it doesn’t interest me right now."
We're a little shocked that even something as simple as an animated spin-off isn't being considered, but Cameron's priority is clearly to tell these stories on the biggest screens possible with 3D effects at the forefront. Considering the fact Avatar: The Way of Water may have cost as much as $400 million to produce, it makes sense that a live-action TV show is off the table for now.
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, the sequel begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Avatar: The Way of Water splashes down in theaters worldwide on December 16.