James Wan wants to direct the fourth Avatar movie if James Cameron does not.
The Conjuring filmmaker, 48, has thrown his hat into the ring to helm the next instalment in Cameron’s blockbuster sci-fi saga if The Terminator creator, 71, chooses to walk away from the director's chair to focus on other projects.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Wan said: “I have not done Avatar. Yeah, if you could put a good one for me with James Cameron, I'd love to take a crack at that.”
The latest instalment Avatar: Fire and Ash follows Na'vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their family as they face a fierce new threat from the fire-wielding ‘Ash People’ tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), reigniting conflict on a turbulent Pandora.
As grief and old enemies resurface, alliances with the Metkayina clan will test their strength, faith, and survival.
The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Stephen Lang as Miles Quaritch and Kate Winslet as Ronal.
So far, Fire and Ash has impressed at the box office, recently passing the $1 billion mark after debuting on December 19, 2025.
While Wan is keen to direct an Avatar film, Fire and Ash’s commercial and critical success could be enough to convince Cameron to helm the next movie, as the Titanic director had previously insisted he would only make more Avatar entries if there was a clear audience appetite for them.
During an appearance on The Town with Matt Belloni podcast, Cameron said: “Sequelitis. People tend to dismiss sequels. Unless it's the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is.
“This is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.”
The Aliens director filmmaker added Fire and Ash would be a fitting conclusion to the Avatar series if it needs to be.
He said: “I've been in Avatar land for 20 years, actually 30 years because I wrote it in ’95, but I wasn't working continuously on it for those first 10 years.”
While he is open to letting someone else direct the fourth and fifth Avatar movies, Cameron insisted he would have to be closely involved in the films if they are ultimately made.
He explained: “Look, I have choices there. There are levels in which I immerse. I could produce. I don't think there'd ever be another Avatar movie that I didn't produce closely.
“But in terms of it taking over my life? That's a threshold issue for me.”
Cameron also recently said he will hold a press conference to reveal the plot of the fourth Avatar movie if the blockbuster does not go ahead.
He told Entertainment Weekly: “I don’t know if the saga goes beyond this point. I hope it does.
“But, you know, we prove that business case every time we go out … If we don’t get to make 4 and 5, for whatever reason, I’ll hold a press conference and I’ll tell you what we were gonna do. How’s that?”
