Avatar 2: The Way of the Water: how many sequels will there be, release dates, and is Avatar 5 the last one?

Avatar smashed box office records when it arrived in cinemas in 2009, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time - overtaking Titanic, another James Cameron project - and maintaining the top spot until Avengers: Endgame overtook it a decade later.

The pioneering sci-fi war epic followed injured marine Jake Sully who is sent to the moon Pandora, using an avatar to move in the otherwise toxic environment. Sully’s mission is to move the local population from their sacred land so that they can exploit it for its mineral wealth. But when Sully falls in love with a native woman, he switches sides and fights with them against the human invaders.

Sam Worthington led the cast as Sully, and was joined by Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver, all of whom returned in the sequel. Avatar was seen as a significant part of film history because of its pioneering use of CGI, although producers were slow to capitalise on the film’s box office success.

Marvel’s Iron Man was released the year before Avatar and in the time it took for The Way of the Water to make its way to cinemas, a further 29 Marvel films and eight series have been released. But the same mistake isn't likely to be repeated, as Cameron has several more sequels are in the works, and fans won’t have to wait decades to see them.

How many Avatar films will there be?

Despite the fact that it took 13 years for the first sequel to come to cinemas, there are plans for several more Avatar movies. Four sequels, including The Way of the Water, are currently planned for the series, making five films in total.

At the current speed of release this would mean that the last Avatar movie would be released in December 2016, however the real schedule is far tighter than that. Avatar 3 was filmed simultaneously with The Way of the Water and is slated for release in December 2024.

Avatar 4 and 5, which are both in the early stages of production, are expected to be released in 2026 and 2028. However, production is only expected to continue on the films if The Way of the Water is commercially successful. James Cameron said in 2017: “If Avatar 2 and 3 don’t make enough money, there’s not going to be a 4 and 5.”

Each Avatar sequel is expected to cost $250 million each, slightly above the $237 million spent on the first film, meaning that 20th Century Studios will be out half a billion having already filmed 2 and 3.

However, Avatar remains the highest grossing movie of all time (even if it did need a couple of re-releases to knock Avengers: Endgame off the top spot) having made $2.9 billion to date. Director James Cameron is likely hoping for similar success with the sequels, but even if each film only does half as well as the original, that would still leave room for almost $5 billion in profit over the four movies.

Where can you watch Avatar: The Way of the Water ?

Avatar: Way of the Water became available to buy on Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday 4 April - it is £9.99 to buy in standard definition, or HD and Ultra HD for £13.99.

Is Avatar: The Way of the Water on Disney+?

The Way of the Water is a 20th Century Studios production, meaning that it is also a Disney property. Therefore, the sequel is likely to be released on Disney+ sometime after its cinematic run. An official Disney+ release date has not yet been confirmed.

A release date of 28 March for the US and 4 April for the UK had originally been suggested, however this has not been the case. Watch this space for updates on when Avatar: The Way of the Water will be available on Disney+.