James Cameron’s visual extravaganza ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is running in theatres and has already grossed over a formidable $881 million at the box office globally. The film is being received quite well both critically and commercially. However, on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel is a little behind with 78% critics score compared with the parent film ‘Avatar’, which holds an 82% critics’ score.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is the first instalment of the four planned sequels to the 2009 blockbuster ‘Avatar’. Box-office and commercial prospects aside and not at all undermining how well-made the ‘Avatar’ and ‘Avatar 2’ films are, we don’t want any more ‘Avatar’ sequels at all. And even if they happen, we don’t want James Cameron to direct them. Let us explain why.
After the release of the widely acclaimed disaster film ‘Titanic’ came out in the year 1997, it took James Cameron 12 years to release the first ‘Avatar’ movie in 2009. Then, there was an even longer gap of 13 years to release the sequel ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in 2022.
And as of now, the two sequels ‘Avatar 3’ and ‘Avatar 4’ are slated to release in December 2024 and December 2026. Provided that there are no production or release delays. So, even if we consider a three-year gap, James Cameron’s next non-Avatar film won’t release any time before the year 2029 or maybe even 2030!
So, the point is: we seriously want a filmmaker of James Cameron’s calibre and universal appeal to invest his creative energies (as a director) elsewhere also. That is, in a different project altogether which is unrelated to Avatar. Perhaps a big-budget web series or another massively mounted action sci-fi film like ‘Terminator’, a cool spy action flick like ‘True Lies’ or an alien invasion thriller like ‘Aliens’. The possibilities are endless.
In the Indian context, take the example of S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR. The highly entertaining action extravaganza has attracted international attention too in a big way. But, still, would you want S.S Rajamouli to direct three more ‘RRR’ sequels or would you want him to make three diversified projects like the upcoming Mahesh Babu film or maybe a potential film with Hrithik Roshan in the lead role or an international film with a global star?
Not that the ‘Avatar’ films are not well-made, but by the end of this decade, wouldn’t you want James Cameron to direct the likes of, say, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr, Will Smith, Tom Hanks, or Dwayne Johnson? But for that to happen, James Cameron will have to hand over his director’s hat to some capable filmmaker, for future Avatar films. That’s why we don’t want any more Avatar sequels and that too directed by James Cameron himself.