There’s An Entire Avatar Sequel Written That Will Never Be Made
James Cameron is such a serious screenwriter that he even writes screenplays for his screenplays. In advance of the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana revealed to Collider that they were given a script detailing what their characters had been up to since the last movie. The script is not intended to be its own movie at this time but illuminates the time between the first movie and the new one by showing how the couple’s family has grown since repelling the human invaders of the planet Pandora.
When the two stars, who play characters Jake Sully and Neytiri, asked for some background about their characters for the current Avatar sequel, they were expecting notes, not an entire script. James Cameron has detailed his creative world so thoroughly, however, that there is at least one feature-length script written only for this purpose. We may never see its contents on-screen, and who knows how many other such lore dumps exist in the director’s files?
Further, both stars had rave reviews for the script. Zoe Saldana even reports that she has been hesitant to return Sam Worthington’s copy, which she borrowed because she thinks it’s that good. Sam Worthington was given the script as a way to acclimate himself to his character going into the Avatar sequel.
James Cameron wrote the script in the year leading up to filming as a means to explain how the Na’vi couple grew their family to the one audiences will see in The Way of Water. This first Avatar sequel will show some of these events, but Cameron is so detailed in his world-building that he spent a lot of time giving these characters a past and developing their children so the actors could fall naturally into their roles. Avatar 2 has its own tales to tell, and the background “Avatar 1.5″ script is a feature-length screenplay in its own right.
Pandora is a world rich with lore, and the events of the first movie deepen that with the involvement of Jake Scully in the lives of the Na’vi. At least three more proposed Avatar sequels will give viewers a chance to explore these fantastic places, and knowing that James Cameron wrote an entirely separate movie aside from those, one that was never meant to be filmed shows how much Pandora can give in terms of content. There is still plenty of stories to tell, as audiences will see in the next three movies.
There are multiple sequels planned for the series, with release dates for parts two, three, and four already released. A fifth movie is also planned pending the reception of the other four. With so many Avatar sequels in the works, there is plenty of content coming about the Na’vi and their main storyline.
Avatar 3 is slated for a release in December 2026, and Avatar 4 was announced to have a December 2028 release date. Avatar: The Way of Water is the first sequel to the series, and is opening in theaters on December 16. Ahead of the premiere of the new movie, fans can catch the original on Disney+.
