James Wan Expresses Interest in Directing a New Avatar Film

Aquaman director James Wan is eager to dive into the Avatar universe.

In a recent chat, Wan, known for his work on horror hits like Insidious, The Conjuring, and Malignant, expressed his enthusiasm for potentially taking on a project within James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, especially if Cameron decides to step back after Avatar: Fire and Ash.

“I haven’t worked on Avatar,” Wan stated. “If there’s a chance to collaborate with James Cameron, I’d be thrilled to give it a shot.”

While Cameron has hinted at the possibility of stepping away from the franchise in the future, he seems intent on remaining closely involved. When asked if he would hand over the reins, Cameron firmly replied, “Absolutely not,” emphasizing that he would always be involved as a producer: “I don’t think there’d ever be a version where there’s another Avatar movie that I didn’t produce closely. But in terms of it taking over my life, you know, that’s a threshold issue for me.”

Cameron also mentioned that he would consider stepping back if Fire and Ash didn’t perform well at the box office. “Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve been in Avatar land for 20 years. Actually, 30 years, because I wrote it in ’95, but I wasn’t working continuously on it for those first 10 years. There was a brief flurry of interest in ’95, and then everybody said, ‘You’re out of your mind,’ and I shelved it for 10 years, and then we got serious in 2005. Yeah, absolutely. Sure, if this is where it ends, cool.”

However, with Avatar: Fire and Ash recently surpassing the $1 billion mark at the box office, the franchise appears to be in a strong financial position. Avatar 4 is currently slated for release on December 21, 2029.