Avatar (franchise)

This article is about the James Cameron science fiction franchise. For the Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino television franchise of the same name, see Avatar: The Last Airbender (franchise). For other works, see Avatar (disambiguation).

Avatar
File:Avatar franchise logo.png
Created by	James Cameron
Original work	Avatar
Owner	20th Century Studios Lightstorm Entertainment
Years	2009–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Avatar (2009) The Way of Water (2022) Avatar 3 (2024) Avatar 4 (2026) Avatar 5 (2028)
Official website
www.avatar.com

Avatar is an American media franchise created by James Cameron, which consists of a planned series of epic science fiction films produced by Lightstorm Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Studios, as well as associated merchandise, video games and theme park attractions. The Avatar franchise is one of the most expensive franchises ever undertaken, with the combined budget of the first film and its four sequels estimated at $1 billion. The franchise has grossed over $5.1 billion worldwide; it is the 13th-highest-grossing film series of all time.

The first installment, Avatar, was released on December 18, 2009, and is the highest grossing film of all-time. The second installment, The Way of Water, was released on December 16, 2022. The planned sequel series was announced by 20th Century Fox on December 11, 2009, one week before Avatar was released to theaters. 20th Century Fox had confirmed the series on January 15, 2010.

Like the original film, the four sequels have "fully encapsulated" standalone plots that "come to their own conclusions". The four films have an overarching meta-narrative that connects them to create a large interconnected saga. Cameron described the sequels as "a natural extension of all the themes, and the characters, and the spiritual undercurrents" of the first film.

Films

Overview of Avatar films

Film	U.S. release date	Directed by	Written by		Produced by	Status
			Screenplay by	Story by
Avatar	December 18, 2009 (2009-12-18)	James Cameron	James Cameron		James Cameron and Jon Landau	Released
Avatar: The Way of Water	December 16, 2022 (2022-12-16)		James Cameron and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver	James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno
Avatar 3	December 20, 2024					Post-production
Avatar 4	December 18, 2026 (2026-12-18)		James Cameron and Josh Friedman			Filming
Avatar 5	December 22, 2028 (2028-12-22)		James Cameron and Shane Salerno			Pre-production

Avatar (2009)

Main article: Avatar (2009 film)

The story focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of three gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. On Pandora, human colonists and the sentient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, the Na'vi, engage in a war over the planet's resources and the latter's continued existence. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the natives.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Main article: Avatar: The Way of Water

Set over a decade after the events of the first film, The Way of Water focuses on the return of the RDA, which prompts Jake's family to explore the water regions of Pandora in an effort to keep one another safe and face down a familiar threat. Cameron said in an interview that while the first film was about the "awe and wonder", the sequel focuses more on the characters. The film was originally planned for a December 2014 release, but was delayed several times and released on December 16, 2022. Production began in August 2017. It wrapped in September 2020.

Avatar 3 (2024)

Main article: Avatar 3

A third film is planned for December 20, 2024. Interviews in mid 2010 suggested that the third film would explore more of the Alpha Centauri system, but the script was not completed until late 2015. Avatar 3 started shooting simultaneously with Avatar: The Way of Water in New Zealand on September 25, 2017; filming was completed in late-December 2020.

Avatar 4 (2026)

Main article: Avatar 4

A fourth film is planned for December 18, 2026. Jon Landau said that, due to a six-year time skip in the first act, a third of Avatar 4 has already been filmed to account for the aging of the child actors, and it was announced at the D23 Expo on September 9, 2022, that principal photography had officially begun for Avatar 4.

Avatar 5 (2028)

A fifth film has been announced and is scheduled for December 22, 2028. Jon Landau has stated that Avatar 5 will take place on Earth, with Neytiri visiting the planet.

Future

In 2022, Cameron indicated that he has plans for a sixth and seventh film and would make them if there is demand for them.

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)

This section shows characters who will appear or have appeared in the franchise.

• An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
•  ^U indicates an uncredited appearance.
•  ^Y indicates a younger version of the character.

Character	Films					Video game
	Avatar	Avatar: The Way of Water	Avatar 3	Avatar 4	Avatar 5	Avatar: The Game
	2009	2022	2024	2026	2028	2009
Jake Sully	Sam Worthington
Neytiri	Zoe Saldaña
Colonel Miles Quaritch	Stephen Lang
Parker Selfridge	Giovanni Ribisi
Dr. Norm Spellman	Joel David Moore			TBA
Dr. Max Patel	Dileep Rao
Corporal Lyle Wainfleet	Matt Gerald
Mo'at	CCH Pounder
Dr. Grace Augustine	Sigourney Weaver					Sigourney Weaver
Trudy Chacón	Michelle Rodriguez					Michelle Rodriguez
Eytukan	Wes Studi
Tsu'tey	Laz Alonso
Kiri		Sigourney Weaver		TBA
Ronal		Kate Winslet
Tonowari		Cliff Curtis
General Frances Ardmore		Edie Falco
Captain Mick Scoresby		Brendan Cowell
Dr. Ian Garvin		Jemaine Clement
Miles "Spider" Socorro		Jack Champion			TBA
Lo'ak		Britain Dalton	Britain Dalton		TBA
		Chloe Coleman
Tuktirey "Tuk"		Trinity Jo-Li Bliss
Tsireya "Reya"		Bailey Bass
Neteyam		James Flatters
Aonung		Filip Geljo	TBA
Rotxo		Duane Evans Jr.
Metkayina Interpreter		CJ Jones
Dr. Karina Mogue			Michelle Yeoh
Varang			Oona Chaplin
TBA			David Thewlis

Production details

Production details of Avatar films

Film	Composer	Cinematographer	Editors	Production companies	Distributor	Running time
Avatar	James Horner	Mauro Fiore	Stephen Rivkin John Refoua James Cameron	Lightstorm Entertainment Dune Entertainment Ingenious Film Partners	20th Century Fox	162 min. (theatrical) 178 min. (extended)
Avatar: The Way of Water	Simon Franglen	Russell Carpenter	Stephen Rivkin David Brenner John Refoua James Cameron	Lightstorm Entertainment TSG Entertainment	20th Century Studios (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)	192 min.
Avatar 3						TBA
Avatar 4		TBA	TBA
Avatar 5

Reception

Box office performance

The first film grossed $2.92 billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing film in history. The second film, The Way of Water, has grossed $2.21 billion worldwide and currently ranks as the third highest-grossing film. The third, fourth, and fifth films in the series are expected to have a budget of $250 million.

Box office performance for Avatar films

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Box office ranking		Budget	Ref.
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide	North America	Worldwide
Avatar	December 18, 2009	$785,221,649	$2,137,696,265	$2,922,917,914	4	1	$237 million
Avatar: The Way of Water	December 16, 2022	$646,919,731	$1,566,173,359	$2,213,519,731	10	3	$350–460 million
Avatar 3	December 20, 2024	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	$250 million
Avatar 4	December 18, 2026	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	$250 million
Avatar 5	December 22, 2028	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	$250 million
Total		$1,432,141,380	$3,703,869,624	$5,136,437,648	21	13	$1.337–1.447 billion

Critical and public response

Critical and public response to the Avatar films

Film	Critical		Public
	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore	PostTrak
Avatar		83 (35 reviews)	A	N/A
Avatar: The Way of Water	76% (424 reviews)	67 (68 reviews)	A	91%

Accolades

Main articles: List of accolades received by Avatar and List of accolades received by Avatar: The Way of Water

The first Avatar film won Academy Awards in Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects, while also being nominated for Picture, Director, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.

Academy Award Nominations

Category
	82nd Academy Awards	95th Academy Awards
	Avatar	The Way of Water
Picture	Nominated	Pending
Director	Nominated
Art Direction	Won	Pending
Cinematography	Won
Editing	Nominated
Score	Nominated
Sound	Nominated	Pending
Sound Editing	Nominated	Discontinued
Visual Effects	Won	Pending

Music

• Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture was scored by James Horner and released on December 15, 2009, by Atlantic Records and Fox Music.
• Avatar: The Way of Water (soundtrack) was scored by Simon Franglen and released on December 15, 2022, by Hollywood Records.

Singles

• "I See You (Theme from Avatar)"
• "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)"

Other media

Video games

Title	Details
Avatar: The Game Original release date(s): WW: December 1, 2009	Release years by system: 2009 – Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360, iPhone 2010 – iPad, Android
	Notes: Acts as a prequel to the film, features Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Giovanni Ribisi reprise their roles from the film. The casting and voice production for Avatar: The Game was handled by Blindlight. Third-person action-adventure game
Avatar Pandora Rising Original release date: US: January 22, 2020	Release years by system: 2020 – iOS, Android
	Notes: Developed by Scopely Game was soft launched but never received a full release Real time strategy game On February 11, 2022 Scopely announced the game would cease production and servers would be shut down April 4, 2022.
Avatar: Reckoning Original release date(s): WW: 2023	Release years by system: 2023 – iOS, Android
	Notes: Developed by Archosaur Games Published by Level Infinite Mobile MMO RPG shooter
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Original release date(s): WW: 2023/2024	Release years by system: 2023/2024 – Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Amazon Luna.
	Notes: Developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft Open-world action-adventure video game

Novels

Following the release of Avatar, Cameron initially planned to write a novel based on the film, "telling the story of the movie, but [going] into much more depth about all the stories that we didn't have time to deal with."

In 2013, this plan was superseded by the announcement of four new novels set within the "Avatar expanded universe", to be written by Steven Gould. The books were due to be published by Penguin Random House, although since 2017, there has been no update on the planned book series.

In July 2022, the first graphic novel based on the Avatar franchise was announced.

Title	Release date	Age category	Media type	Ref.
Avatar: The High Ground	December 6, 2022 – January 10, 2023	General Audience	Graphic Novel
Based on James Cameron original screenplay for Avatar: The Way of Water and will serve as a prequel to the upcoming film. Written by Sherri L. Smith and Augustin Padilla Illustrated by Guilherme Balbi, Michael Altiyeh, Wes Dzioba, Michael Angel Ruiz, Diego Galindo, George Quadros, Gabriel Guzman, DC Alonso Published by Dark Horse Comics and Penguin Random House Three part series Volume 1, released on December 6, 2022 Volume 2, to be released on January 10, 2023 Volume 3, to be released on January 10, 2023 During the development process of creating the four Avatar sequels, a lot of new ideas and stories were created and discussed. One such original story idea that didn't make it into the sequels was James Cameron's original story—"The High Ground." Cameron shared what he had written with Dark Horse Comics and it was then adapted into a graphic novel.

Books

The Art of Avatar is a film production art book released on November 30, 2009, by Abrams Books.

The World of Avatar: A Visual Exploration Is a book that celebrates, explores, and explains the spectacular world of Pandora. The book was released on May 31, 2022, by DK Books

The Art of Avatar The Way of Water takes an exclusive look behind-the-scenes on the production and creative process of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. It was released on December 16, 2022, by DK Books

Avatar The Way of Water The Visual Dictionary is a visual guide that showcases characters, vehicles, weapons, locations, and more from the movie, as well as many stunning exclusive details. This book was released on December 16, 2022, by DK Books

Comic books

In October 2015, Dark Horse Comics signed a 10-year partnership to publish Avatar comics.

On May 6, 2017, Dark Horse Comics published a Free Comic Book Day one-shot entitled FCBD 2017: James Cameron's Avatar / Briggs Land, which included a short story set in the world of Avatar entitled "Brothers". From January to August 2019, Dark Horse published a six-issue miniseries called Avatar: Tsu'tey's Path. Tsu'tey's Path was collected in trade paperback format on November 27, 2019, with "Brothers" included as supplementary material.

Title	No. of Issues	Issue No.	Release date	Story	Art	Colors	Covers
"Brothers"	1	FCBD 2017	May 6, 2017	Sherri L. Smith	Doug Wheatley	Wes Dzioba	Dave Wilkins
Tsu'tey's Path	6	1	January 16, 2019	Sherri L. Smith	Jan Duursema (pencils) Dan Parson (inks)	Wes Dzioba	Doug Wheatley Shea Standefer (variants)
		2	February 13, 2019
		3	March 20, 2019
		4	May 1, 2019
		5	June 26, 2019
		6	August 21, 2019
The Next Shadow	4	1	January 6, 2021	Jeremy Barlow	Josh Hood	Wes Dzioba	Guilherme Balbi with Wes Dzioba
		2	February 3, 2021
		3	March 3, 2021
		4	April 7, 2021
Adapt or Die	6	1	May 4, 2022	Corinna Bechko	Beni Lobel	Mark Molchan	Wes Dzioba
		2	June 1, 2022
		3	July 6, 2022
		4	August 1, 2022
		5	September 9, 2022
		6	October 5, 2022

Collected editions

Title	Release date	ISBN
Avatar: Tsu'tey's Path	November 27, 2019	9781506706702
Avatar: The Next Shadow	August 11, 2021	9781506722429

Live show

Main article: Toruk – The First Flight

Toruk – The First Flight is an original stage production by the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil which ran between December 2015 and June 2019. Inspired by Avatar, the story is set in Pandora's past, involving a prophecy concerning a threat to the Tree of Souls and a quest for totems from different tribes. Audience members could download an app in order to participate in show effects. On January 18, 2016, it was announced via the Toruk Facebook page that filming for a DVD release had been completed and was undergoing editing.

Exhibition

Avatar The Exhibition is a touring exhibition based on the first film. It opened in Chengdu, China on May 1, 2021, and closed on December 31, 2021. It is currently touring Asia with future stops planned around the globe.

Theme park attractions

Main article: Pandora – The World of Avatar

In 2011, Cameron, Lightstorm, and Fox entered an exclusive licensing agreement with the Walt Disney Company to feature Avatar-themed attractions at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide, including a themed land for Disney's Animal Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The area, known as Pandora – The World of Avatar, opened on May 27, 2017. The themed land is set generations after the events of the films and features two attractions: Avatar Flight of Passage, a flying simulator attraction, and Na'vi River Journey, a boat dark ride.

In February 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a new attraction based on the Avatar films, named the Avatar Experience, would open at Disneyland.

Cultural considerations

Some indigenous groups around the world including some Native Americans have called for a boycott of the franchise over "tone-deaf" handling of indigenous cultures and cultural appropriation. Both Avatar films have drawn criticism for casting several white and other non-indigenous actors in the roles of the alien native people. Cameron said he tried to move away from a white savior narrative. The film series was criticized for "romanticization of colonization" and putting forward a monolithic portrayal of Indigenous people.

Cameron also faced criticism for comments made after the release of the first film. In 2010, Cameron and Avatar actors supported the Xingu peoples in opposing the construction of the Belo Monte Dam.

In 2012, Cameron said Avatar is a fictional retelling of the history of North and South America in the early Colonial period, “with all its conflict and bloodshed between the military aggressors from Europe and the indigenous peoples”.

External links

• Official website