Will Avatar become a seven-film saga? Cameron hints at a future beyond Fire and Ash
Costume designer Deborah Scott says the filmmaker is always thinking ahead, with plans he says extend beyond the current film, while Cameron himself notes the story is mapped through five with ideas for six and seven.
Will Avatar become a seven-film saga? James Cameron’s team says the director is already thinking several steps ahead, even as Avatar: Fire and Ash takes the next major turn for the blockbuster franchise. Deborah Scott, an Oscar-winning costume designer who has collaborated with Cameron on multiple projects, told The New York Post that she’s not certain the saga will stretch to six or seven films. “We’ve always had a sort of plan for four or five, possibly. We’ll see how these movies do, how the public likes this one,” she said. Cameron himself has echoed that long-range mindset, telling People last year that the Avatar story is mapped out well beyond Fire and Ash and that he’s not short on ideas. “We’re fully written through movie five, and I’ve got ideas for six and seven,” he said, adding with a half-joke about mortality catching up that he may eventually hand off the baton.
Scott, who has watched Cameron push his worlds into bolder territory for decades, said the filmmaker is always prepared for new directions. Pandora, she noted, will keep offering fresh material rather than recycling familiar visuals or emotional terrain. “Pandora is always interesting,” she told The Post. “It’s exciting because there’s going to be new stuff. We’re not going to stay in the same place we are now, and I think that’s going to have incredible creative challenges.” Cameron’s ambition—driven by a love of expansive sci-fi universes—has long shaped the way he builds a franchise, moved by the idea that the world itself can keep growing as audiences respond.
In that sense, the latest chapter introduces new faces alongside Cameron’s familiar stars. Scott praised Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldaña, while also highlighting Varang, a new figure brought to life by Oona Chaplin. “I have a soft spot for [Zoe Saldaña’s] Neytiri. I think she’s got a great character. And of course, the new characters. Varang, played by Oona Chaplin. Oona’s performance is unbelievable. I think the fans are going to love her,” Scott said.
The film’s cast also features Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, Kate Winslet as Ronal, Sigourney Weaver returning as Kiri, Stephen Lang as Miles Quaritch, and Michelle Yeoh in a key role. Yet even with an ensemble that leans on groundbreaking CGI and performance capture, Scott stressed that the human core remains grounded. “When I look at the characters, I don’t see blue. I see Sam Worthington, and I see Zoe Saldaña, because they’re so real,” she noted, underscoring Cameron’s ability to anchor emotion amid spectacular visuals.
To bring the actors into the mix, Cameron has often dressed performers in costumes or pieces related to their eventual looks before they step into motion-capture stages. Scott described an approach that blends live action with cutting-edge technology, arguing that the process feels surprisingly like traditional filmmaking when costumes are built and fitted first. “Performance capture is really fun because there are so many actors involved on set at the same time,” she said. “Jim had me, pretty often, dress the actors in either something related to their costumes or in their actual costumes so that they had a sense of what was going on before they had to remove it from the performance markers.”
That hands-on method sits at the heart of Scott’s praise for Cameron’s collaborative dynamic. She noted that live-action sensibilities endure even as the production leans heavily into virtual filmmaking. “Live action is pretty similar,” she said, describing how the team builds the physical world first and then integrates performance capture and CGI to realize Pandora’s evolving environments. “The Avatar films are probably the most creative of the things I’ve been able to do. They have no relationship to a period of time or a certain real-life situation. We’re world-building with the production designers and with Jim.”
The broader context remains clear: Avatar has already generated billions and remains a cultural touchstone for its ambition and its scale. Cameron has drawn inspiration from the world-building traditions of Star Trek and Star Wars, saying that, although the franchise is young (just two films in when he spoke of a wider arc), its potential mirrors the expansive space those franchises occupy for generations. The director has often explained that the Pandora universe is not a short-run project; it’s an ongoing exploration that could redefine what a modern film series can be if audiences stay engaged.
Fire and Ash marks another milestone in that ongoing experiment, with an ensemble cast that includes veterans and new talents alike. As the franchise expands, fans will be watching not only for the next chapter’s spectacle but for how Cameron and his collaborators keep Pandora fresh—how they balance character development with the awe-inspiring visuals that have become the franchise’s signature. The question of a seven-film arc remains open, but the conversation around it shows Cameron’s willingness to push the boundaries of a single idea into a long, evolving narrative.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters with a roster that includes Sigourney Weaver (Kiri), Stephen Lang (Miles Quaritch), Winslet (Ronal) and Michelle Yeoh (Dr. Karina Mogue). The film’s production and design teams carry forward Cameron’s legacy of blending groundbreaking visual effects with character-driven storytelling, a combination Scott says continues to define the “Avatar” experience and its potential to grow into a longer, more expansive saga.