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James Cameron's has ambitions for an "Avatar" animated spin-off

By Chris Morgan | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 10:54 AM ET

Some thought James Cameron was being hubristic with his "Avatar" designs. Even the first movie generated early skepticism. Then it became the highest-grossing movie in history and got many Oscar nominations. When Cameron spoke on his plans for multiple sequels, people scoffed. Some asserted they would never get made. "The Way of Water" made billions of dollars, and "Fire and Ash" is likely going to hit the billion-dollar threshold once it is released. Cameron's ambition continues apace. Call him hubristic, but it feels like Cameron is thinking to himself, "I bet I could fly up to the Sun and then chill on the surface for a minute." We're not just talking about more potential sequels. Cameron is now talking an entire animated world based on "Avatar."

Now that Disney has the rights to the "Avatar" properties, Cameron says he's been talking with the deep-pocketed folks running things at the House of Mouse. "I want to do an animated anthology series that’s essentially in the world, but stories that you wouldn’t have expected from that world," he said, but that's not all. Cameron also suggested, "There might even be an animated feature in there — it might be a feature for streaming, or a theatrical feature." Yeah, of course Cameron threw that "or a theatrical feature" in there. You think this dude is going to relegate himself to streaming?

Now, ambition and big plans aside, Cameron is not getting out over his skies. "We haven’t done much with that yet. We’re still gathering our stories and that sort of thing, and I’ve got to find the boutique filmmakers, the animators, that want to do it." Which is to say that, while Cameron will assuredly have his creative input on anything animated in the world of Pandora, he won't be helming these projects himself. After all, the guy has plans for at least two more live-action "Avatar" movies.

We don't know when this series, and this movie, might make the move from theoretical to real, but we 100-percent believe both projects will happen. This is James Cameron. He gets things done.

(h/t Deadline)

Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan is a Detroit-based culture writer who has somehow managed to justify getting his BA in Film Studies. He has written about sports and entertainment across various internet platforms for years and is also the author of three books about '90s television.

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