James Cameron Will Let Fans Influence Avatar 4, Says Stephen Lang

James Cameron may be one of the most meticulous filmmakers in Hollywood, but when it comes to Avatar 4, even he’s taking a step back and listening. The legendary director is known for building Pandora down to the smallest detail, yet the next chapter in the billion-dollar franchise could be shaped not just by his vision, but by the fans who know the world just as intimately.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Tatiana Hullender for Avatar: Fire & Ash’s home release, Stephen Lang, who plays Quaritch in the Avatar saga, shared insight into the fourth installment of the series and revealed the plan Cameron has to get fans involved.

Stephen Lang: Well, the fans are such a phenomenon. They really, in so many ways, dictate what happens. Interestingly, Jim Cameron has said that for Avatar 4, he’s really gauging what the fans have to say. They’re really participating in things. You probably can’t stop that in any case, but he’s really leaning into it, it seems to me. The more you know about Pandora, the better. And we’re also dealing with a core of fans, worldwide, who actually probably know more about Pandora than I do, at this point, because they really study it. So I just love the idea that we are becoming a world that is being fleshed out picture by picture, added bonus by added bonus, because I grew up loving Tolkien, like everyone else. And to be part of a universe that is in the same ballpark as that, I think that’s just fantastic. So it’s all these special bonus features that I think are going to be so fascinating to people.

Though it was announced March 20 by Disney that a fourth and fifth movie will be released in 2029 and 2031, respectively, Cameron has been open about the continuation of the saga not being a sure thing, but with Lang’s comments, it seems it’s all systems go on Avatar 4.

In a separate interview for Fire & Ash‘s home release, Hullender also spoke to franchise executive producer Rae Sanchini, who revealed that the start of production on Avatar 4 may not be too far off, telling ScreenRant that work will have to get going on the fourth and fifth movies “pretty soon” because of the immense amount of prep required.

Rae Sanchini: The Avatar films are a very long lead time process, so we’re going to have to get started on those pretty soon as well. And then Jim’s got another few things that he’s always kicking around… a lot of original ideas.

And Sanchini is not wrong there, as Avatar movies historically have long pre-production, production, and post-production processes, leading some fans to doubt whether these dates will actually be hit. It is worth noting, however, that a large portion of Avatar 4 has already been filmed to account for the aging of the child actors, and is expected to feature a significant time jump. And though Cameron had held off on commenting about the continuation of the Avatar saga till the numbers on Fire & Ash came in, it appears its $1.48 billion run at the box office and now, a highly anticipated home release, has solidified a way forward for the films.

Avatar: Fire & Ash will be released on 4K UHD and Blu-ray May 19.