If Avatar 4 gets the go-ahead from 20th Century Studios and Disney, there’s a legendary horror director waiting in the wings to take over from James Cameron, and their previous work already proves that they’ve got the right skills for the job.
In December, Sigourney Weaver told Dexerto that Avatar 4 and 5 are “up in the air” while the studio looks at how successful Avatar: Fire and Ash is at the box office. But now that it has crossed the $1 billion dollar mark at the global box office, it seems highly likely that executives are preparing to give Cameron the green light to continue his adventures on Pandora.
Avatar: Fire and Ash mainly follows the Sully family as they grapple with the loss of their son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) while Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) partners with Varang (Oona Chaplin), the ferocious leader of the Mangkwan clan which gives the RDA a deadly edge over the rest of the Na’vi people.
By the end of the third film, the Sully’s repel the RDA for the third time and Quaritch appears to die in the fight. But the war is far from over on Pandora, and this iconic horror director wants to take on Avatar 4 if James Cameron wants a break.
James Wan wants to direct Avatar 4
James Wan says he wants to direct Avatar 4 if Cameron decides to step away from Pandora for a little while. The director has been responsible for creating and co-creating three major horror universes with Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, as well as producing numerous sequels in all three franchises. Let’s not forget that he also helmed movies like Aquaman, Furious 7, and Malignant.
When speaking to ScreenRant for Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test, Wan said that he’d love to add Avatar to the roster of franchises he’s worked on.
“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,” he explained.
Wan has proved on numerous occasions that his work is a hit with the box office, since The Conjuring franchise has raked in over $2.8 billion, the Saw franchise has made over $1 billion, and 2018’s Aquaman movie also made a $1 billion. So if that’s the threshold that Avatar films need to hit to be successful in 20th Century Studios’ eyes, Wan would be the perfect fit.
Obviously, this is assuming that Cameron actually wants to step away from Avatar 4. In December he told The Hollywood Reporter that although he wants to direct the fourth movie, he wants to “figure out another way that involves more collaboration” so he can work other movies.
He explained: “I’m not saying I’m going to step away as a director, but I’m going to pull back from being as hands-on with every tiny aspect of the process.”
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