The first three ‘Avatar’ films were built around war. Humans invaded Pandora. Na’vi fought back. Jake Sully led the resistance. That template drove three films and over $6 billion in global ticket sales. ‘Avatar 4’ will throw that template out. Cameron is switching the story’s focus from warfare to a coming-of-age narrative, and the change has been in the works since 2013.
A new voice takes over
For three films, audiences heard the story through the voice of Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington. In ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (2022), Lo’ak, Jake’s son, took over narration duties for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ (2025). Now, the torch passes again.
Sigourney Weaver confirmed in an interview with Jake’s Takes that she will narrate ‘Avatar 4’ through her character, Kiri. “I narrate the next one,” Weaver said. “It’s a major part of the saga for Kiri.”
Kiri is the adopted daughter of Jake and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). She is also the biological daughter of Grace Augustine’s Na’vi avatar. Weaver played Dr. Grace Augustine in the original 2009 film, where the character died. Cameron brought Weaver back in The Way of Water in the entirely new role of Kiri, a teenage Na’vi girl with a mysterious and deep connection to Pandora’s ecosystem.
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Weaver also revealed that Cameron told her about this narrative direction roughly 12 years ago, right around the time the Avatar sequels first began development. The plan has been stable since then.
The “big shift” Weaver described
Weaver did not stop at confirming her narration role. She described Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 as a “big shift” compared to everything that came before.
“[James Cameron] may have changed some ideas but Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are still, as far as I know, what he wrote back then,” Weaver said. “It’s a big shift in four and five.”
That shift, based on everything Cameron and his collaborators have signaled publicly, means moving the franchise away from Jake Sully as the central character and centering the story on the next generation. Kiri, Lo’ak, Tuk, and the other young Na’vi characters will step forward as the main figures in the story.
A time jump changes everything
Part of the genre shift is structural. Avatar 4 will include a significant time jump of approximately six years from the events of Fire and Ash.
That jump has practical production implications. Cameron and his team have already filmed some scenes for Avatar 4 to capture the younger cast members before they visibly age. The production could not afford to wait until 2029 to film those sequences.
By the time the film takes place, Lo’ak and Kiri will be in their early twenties. Tuk, the youngest of the Sully children, will be a teenager. Jake and Neytiri will be in their late thirties and early forties. The story, set roughly 25 years after the original 2009 film, will feature characters at very different life stages than where audiences last left them.
What Fire and Ash set up
Avatar: Fire and Ash opened in theaters on December 19, 2025 and ended its global run with a total gross just above $1.4 billion. That made it the third highest-grossing film of 2025 worldwide and the 18th highest-grossing film of all time. It also made it the lowest-earning entry in the Avatar franchise.
The original Avatar (2009) grossed $2.923 billion globally. The Way of Water (2022) grossed $2.323 billion. Fire and Ash’s final total of approximately $1.414 billion represented a drop of roughly 39 percent from The Way of Water.
Despite the lower earnings, Fire and Ash received strong audience scores. It earned an “A” CinemaScore, a 91 percent Rotten Tomatoes Verified Audience score, and a 4.5/5 PostTrak score.
The film also closed out the storylines that had built across the first three films. Cameron himself said he would accept Fire and Ash as a finale if the franchise did not continue. That closure now works as a narrative reset point for Avatar 4.
Cameron is still directing
Speculation has followed the Avatar franchise about whether Cameron will hand directorial duties to someone else for the later films. Cameron addressed this directly.
“I mean, there’s no reason not to. I’m healthy, I’m good to go,” Cameron told Empire magazine.
Cameron is also the writer on Avatar 4. Josh Friedman is co-writing the script, the same pairing that worked on Fire and Ash. A fifth film, with Shane Salerno as co-writer, is scheduled for December 19, 2031.
Cameron has also mentioned interest in a Terminator project and a planned adaptation of Charles Pellegrino’s “Ghosts of Hiroshima.” Most of his future work, he has said, will touch on what he calls “the big three”: nuclear weapons, machine super intelligence, and climate change.
What Avatar 4 might be called
No official title for Avatar 4 has been confirmed. A reported working title, Avatar: The Tulkun Rider, has circulated online. The Tulkun are the large, whale-like spiritual beings introduced in The Way of Water, creatures with deep emotional and cultural significance to the Metkayina reef clan.
The potential title points toward continued involvement with the water-based story threads and possibly Kiri’s unique relationship with Pandora’s living ecosystem.
Avatar 5 and beyond
Avatar 5 is currently scheduled for December 19, 2031. It is set to be the final film in the planned saga. Cameron has confirmed that Na’vi characters will visit Earth in Avatar 5. A fifth film co-written with Shane Salerno will close out the main story.
Cameron has mentioned the possibility of Avatar 6 and 7 depending on the financial performance of the later films. He has also said there is a real chance he would not direct those entries himself.
The combined global box office total for the three Avatar films released so far exceeds $6.35 billion. The franchise is distributed by 20th Century Studios under Disney.