IT's Avatar Forms

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Lore & Background

The first installment, *Avatar*, was released on December 18, 2009, and is the highest grossing motion picture of all time without inflation adjustments. The planned sequel series was announced by 20th Century Fox on December 11, 2009, one week before *Avatar* was released to theaters, and confirmed on January 15, 2010. The second installment, *The Way of Water*, was released on December 16, 2022. The third installment, *Fire and Ash*, was released on December 19, 2025. Like the original film, the four planned sequels (*The Way of Water*, *Fire and Ash*, 4, and 5) have 'fully encapsulated' stand-alone plots that 'come to their own conclusions'. The four films have an overarching meta-narrative story arc 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. The franchise is one of the most expensive franchises undertaken, with the combined budget of the first film and its four sequels estimated at $1 billion. It has grossed more than $6.7 billion worldwide, making it the 12th-highest-grossing film series of all time. The first two films received largely positive critical reviews, while the third film received mixed-to-positive reviews.

In Their Own Story

The story of *Avatar* (2009) focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of three gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. Human colonists and the sentient humanoid indigenous inhabitants, the Na'vi, engage in a war over the planet's resources (such as unobtanium) and the latter's continued existence. The protagonist, Jake Sully, is a paraplegic young man who travels to Pandora from Earth. Assisting the corporate monolith known as the Resources Development Administration (RDA), he is given an avatar which he uses to interact with the story's heroine, Neytiri, as well as her clan known as the Omatikaya. In *The Way of Water* (2022), set 16 years after the first film in the year 2170, the return of the RDA prompts Jake's family to seek refuge in the water regions of Pandora. Cameron said that while the first film was about the 'awe and wonder', the sequel focuses more on the characters. *Fire and Ash* (2025), set shortly after the second film, focuses on the continuing conflict between the Na'vi and the RDA, with Jake's family struggling to prevent more casualties, and the RDA being aided by the Mangkwan clan who live in the volcanic regions of Pandora. The film introduced a new aggressive Na'vi clan known as 'Ash People' who reside near volcanoes.

Reader's Guide

The avatar forms are genetically engineered Na'vi bodies remotely operated by humans via brain–computer interface to interact with the Na'vi on Pandora. In the first film, the protagonist Jake Sully is given an avatar which he uses to interact with Neytiri and her clan, the Omatikaya. The films are set in the mid-22nd century on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. The central conflict is between the indigenous Na'vi led by Jake Sully and Neytiri, and humans led by Colonel Miles Quaritch from the Resources Development Administration (RDA), a megacorp that has arrived on Pandora to colonize and pillage it for its natural resources. The first film, *Avatar*, was released on December 18, 2009. The second film, *The Way of Water*, was released on December 16, 2022. The third film, *Fire and Ash*, was released on December 19, 2025. A fourth film is planned for release on December 21, 2029, and a fifth film is scheduled for December 19, 2031. Cameron said he would consider making sixth and seventh films if there was demand for them, but that due to his age he would have to train a successor to direct them.

Did You Know?

• The first film, *Avatar*, was released on December 18, 2009, and is the highest grossing motion picture of all time without inflation adjustments.
• The combined budget of the first film and its four sequels is estimated at $1 billion.
• The franchise has grossed more than $6.7 billion worldwide, making it the 12th-highest-grossing film series of all time.
• The third film, *Fire and Ash*, introduced a new aggressive Na'vi clan known as 'Ash People' who reside near volcanoes.
• A fourth film is planned for release on December 21, 2029, and a fifth film is scheduled for December 19, 2031.