James Cameron is once again betting big on runtime to tell the full story of the clash between Earth and Pandora in his cinematic epic. The director revealed that Avatar: Fire and Ash will run for three hours.
This isn’t new for the franchise — the original 2009 Avatar clocked in at 2 hours and 42 minutes, while the 2022 sequel pushed the limit to 3 hours and 12 minutes. Not every viewer was thrilled with such lengthy runtimes, but Cameron isn’t backing down. In an interview with Variety, the director explained that the script for the threequel grew longer due to his decision to bring back the Leonopteryx, the creature that gave Jake Sully the title of “Toruk Makto”:
I got a big scoop here. It didn’t exist in “Fire and Ash.” And I went, “Oh, he’s got to go get the bird.” Come on! I was saving it for a later film. I was like, “F**k that! He should get the bird. Get the Toruk.” There’s something in Jake’s destiny that requires it, right? So I just re-wrote it, and we went back and we shot two or three scenes around that concept, and I threw some stuff out and stuck that in. And we’re at three hours, big surprise! But it works beautifully, and the actors were super-excited about that idea. It’s like, oh, okay, that feels right, you know?
At the same time, Cameron isn’t ready to answer whether Avatar 3 will turn a profit or if budget cuts might be needed. His long-term plans span five films — in the interview, he confirmed that the fourth and fifth entries will take place after a time jump following Fire and Ash, telling their own standalone storylines.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is set to hit theaters on December 19 this year. A second trailer dropped just days ago, showcasing new scenes and teasing more of the film’s plot.
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