James Cameron’s Newest Production: Fire and Ash
By Rebeca Funes
Released on December 19, 2025, the third movie of the Avatar series was released in theaters. Avatar: Fire and Ash provided an immersive experience for its audience, following the story of Jake Sully and Netriyi on Pandora and their conflict with humankind.
James Cameron, director of the Avatar franchise, claimed that this movie will be his most emotional film yet as it explores a different perspective of the Na’vi, humanoid creatures living on Pandora, showing a less heroic side of them. The movie focuses on Jake’s family navigating grief and the introduction of an aggressive Na’vi tribe called the ash people.
The production of Avatar: Fire and Ash took years to produce. The production started on September 25, 2017, and was filmed alongside Avatar: The Way of Water. The movie pushed the limits of technology, requiring new developments of “underwater performance capture technology” and visual effects.
Not only did this contribute to the delays in production, but it also involved extensive writing and shooting of the two sequels at the same time. Despite its delays, fans have given an overall good rating on the movie, receiving a 66% Tomatoreader and a 90% Popcornreader on RottenTomatoes, though some prefer the other Avatar movies compared to it.
“Although I enjoyed Avatar 3, I still prefer the second movie from the franchise compared to the others. My favorite parts of the movie are its high-quality graphics and animation, as well as the well-developed writing of the characters,” said Alisson Hernandez, a sophomore at Barbara Goleman.
The cost for the production of Avatar: Fire and Ash was around 400 million dollars, making it the second most expensive in the series. However, James Cameron stated that the rest of the sequel, Avatar 4 and 5, depend on how well Avatar: Fire and Ash performs financially.
“This can be the last one. There is only one unanswered question in the story. We may find that the release of Avatar 3 proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it’s as strong as it ever was–but only for certain types of films. It’s a coin toss right now,” said James Cameron in an interview.
As of early January 2026, Avatar: Fire and Ash has made around 1.1 billion dollars after only 3 weeks of release. This shows a promising future for the rest of the Avatar series, though James Cameron claimed that the storylines for Avatar 4 and 5 were planned out and would be released as novels if this movie failed.
This achievement makes Avatar: Fire and Ash the third movie in the Avatar franchise to surpass the billion-dollar threshold, showing James’s connection with his audience. Additionally, its enormous production cost reflects his dedication to visual storytelling and the need to maintain the Avatar series’s blockbuster status.
A movie is considered a blockbuster movie when it’s highly popular and commercially successful with a large budget, massive marketing, and high production values, such as special effects.
With its years of production, Avatar: Fire and Ash is well-thought-out and covers complex themes like grief, exploitation, and spirituality. The movie sheds light on colonization by humankind, exploitation with the killing of tulkun (whales that produce oil worth billions on Pandora), the struggle for preserving nature, and the role that faith plays for the Na’vi people, with some turning away from Ewya (Pandora’s deity) and some relying on her.
A deity is a creator and supreme being in a religion. They are usually of divine status, quality, or nature. Ewya plays an important role in Avatar as the na’vi see her as their god, where her energy flows within each being on Pandora.
“Avatar does a great job at portraying what we see in real life and dramatizing it in a fantasy way, but a lot of similarities can be seen between Pandora and our own planet. Eywa and the figure many people deem as Mother Nature share similar characteristics in their ownership of the creation of life and the beauty of the planet, which makes the movie appealing yet relatable,” said FSU graduate, Kyarelise Colon.
All in all, Avatar: Fire and Ash is an incredible movie. With its impressive visual effects, complex themes, and incredible storyline, this movie is worth watching. Although watching the previous movies to understand this one is essential, it is sure to not disappoint. This movie is a must for fans looking to relish an immersive experience.
