James Cameron Hints That ‘Avatar 3’ Will Feature Evil Na’vi: ‘The Last Parts Will Be the Best’

Avatar 3 will take the franchise is a new — and dark! — direction, teases director James Cameron.

The next installment in the film franchise will feature “different cultures from those I have already shown,” he told France’s 20 Minutes, via Total Film. “The fire will be represented by the ‘Ash People.’ I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides.”

He continued, “In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na’vi examples. In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite.”

Avatar 3 is set for release on Dec. 20, 2024.

“We will also explore new worlds, while continuing the story of the main characters,” Cameron revealed. “I can say that the last parts will be the best. The others were an introduction, a way to set the table before serving the meal.”

Meanwhile, the long-awaited Avatar sequel continues to clean up at the box office.

During its first two weeks in theaters, Avatar: The Way of Water made more than $1 billion at the global box office. According to Variety, as of Dec. 28, the more-than-three-hour sci-fi film, which is offered in 3D and premium formats, had earned $317.1 million domestically and $712.7 million internationally, for a total of $1.025 billion so far.

The only other films to surpass $1 billion this year were Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion.

In December 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home reached $1 billion in 12 days, and that film went on to earn more than $1.9 billion worldwide, per Box Office Mojo.

Cameron recently told GQ that the sequel, which pushes the limits of visual effects and features all-new filmmaking techniques, was “very f—ing” expensive to make. Cameron, 68, joked that he told the studio that the film was “the worst business case in movie history,” and that it would “have to be the third- or fourth-highest-grossing film in history” to just “break even.”

His original Avatar movie became the highest-grossing movie of all time after its debut 13 years ago in December 2009. It went on to accumulate an estimated $2.92 billion, according to Box Office Mojo. The next-highest-ranking films are Avengers: Engame (2019), followed by Cameron’s Titanic (1997). Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won three.

Avatar: The Way of Water stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Stephen Lang, and more. It earned Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominations for best picture. (Oscar nominations will be announced later in January.)