Avatar 3 and 4 will be "crazy," and James Cameron has ideas for 5 and 6

The original Avatar movie came out in 2009, and has since become the high-grossing movie in the history of movies. It took a while, but the movie finally spawned a franchise, with sequel Avatar: The Way of Water coming out in 2022 and becoming the third highest-grossing movie of all times. Disney is surely licking its chops for parts 3, 4 and 5.

Zoe Saldana, who plays Na'vi warrior Neytiri, recently told Collider that Avatar 3 — which is due out in 2025 — is going to be "amazing." With Avatar 4 and 5, "it just gets crazy." She is very impressed with writer-director James Cameron. He's blown our mind. This is his legacy project. We all thought it was Titanic, and it turned out that Avatar is his legacy, and for us to be a part of something so groundbreaking and trailblazing, it's like it's a legacy for us, too. So I'm excited to go back. We go back to work next week, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone."

Cameron is the guy behind a number of classic movies, not just Avatar and Titanic but also Aliens, the first twoTerminator movies, and more. He's such a legendary director that some wonder if he's limiting himself by sticking purely to the Avatar franchise these days. Or at least, you get the idea he's been asked about that when he brought up the subject during an interview with PEOPLE. “People are always asking us, ‘So why did you just keep working in the same…’" he said. "Why did [George] Lucas keep working in the same thing? Why did [Gene] Roddenberry keep working in the same thing? Because when you connect with people, why would you squander that? Why would you start over with something else that might not connect?”

I mean, I can think of a few reasons a creative person might want to branch out and try other things, but clearly, Cameron is committed to the growing Avatar universe. "[W]e're still a young universe," he said. "We're only two movies in, we're halfway through our third right now, To have that kind of cultural impact over time, you got to pour all your heart and energy into it.”

"We're fully written through movie five, and I've got ideas for six and seven, although I'll probably be handing the baton on at that point. I mean, mortality catches up. But I mean, we're enjoying what we're doing. We're loving it. We get to work with great people."

This is the first I'm hearing about Avatars 6 and 7. As Cameron is currently 69 years old, it's not a surprise to hear that he'd consider passing on the baton should the franchise reach that point. We could be watching Avatar movies for the next few decades if this keeps up.

Avatar 3 is set to come out on December 19, 2025, with the rest of the Avatar movies coming out at a pretty steady clip after that. It's possible that schedule could get thrown off a bit after the news that special effects artists who work on the films have voted to unionize and join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, but as long as Disney plays fair with the people it employs, it shouldn't be a problem.

Ultimately, Cameron thinks that the continued success of Avatar proves that “people are innately empathetic,” which seems like a big conclusion to come to based on the popularity of a movie franchise about blue aliens, but I like the sentiment. “Ours is actually dystopian in its message to some extent, but it's about beauty, it's about connection, it's about positive values, and that seems to be working,” he said. “So what does that tell us about us? And as human beings globally? Because the films are successful in all markets everywhere. And so I think that's empowering for us.”

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