It is the third film in Cameron’s Avatar franchise, and a sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Cameron is producing the film with Jon Landau. James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno were involved in the writing process. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, and Giovanni Ribisi reprise their roles from previous films, with Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, and Oona Chaplin portraying new characters.

Cameron stated that Avatar: The Seed Bearer is being considered as a possible title for the film.Cameron, who had stated in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it was successful, announced the first two sequels in 2010 following the widespread success of the first film, with Avatar 3 aiming for a 2015 release.

However, the addition of three more sequels (four in total), and the necessity to develop new technology in order to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, pre-production, and visual effects.

Avatar 3 started shooting simultaneously with Avatar: The Way of Water in New Zealand on September 25, 2017; filming completed in late-December 2020, after over three years of shooting.The film’s theatrical release has been subject to eight delays, with the latest occurring on July 23, 2020;[8] it is scheduled for release on December 20, 2024. Two additional sequels are in various stages of production and are expected to be released on December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028, respectively.