James Cameron had too many ideas to fit into three additional films following the success of the original Avatar. Cameron not only envisioned the recently released Avatar: The Way of Water sequel but two more films that continue the saga of Avatar. As the writing team with Cameron, Rick Jaffa (Planet of the Apes), Amanda Silver (Heart of the Sea), Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno got to work organizing Cameron’s vision in 2013, it soon became apparent that there was more material than they anticipated.

Originally Jaffa and Silver were supposed to be the writers for the second film, but they realized they could not consolidate all the information into one movie, according to an interview with Variety. The two approached Cameron with their concerns, and Cameron agreed the material was too critical to cut anything. Jaffa says:

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Cameron changed the plan and gave Jaffa and Silver two films to accomplish what he wanted in The Way of Water. This shift means there are now three more movies slated to complete the Pandora legacy, with Friedman on board for the fourth feature and the fifth tasked to Salerno.

“There was so much material that a handful of really large whiteboards suddenly became this room full of whiteboards. I mean, whiteboards were everywhere, and then whiteboards that flipped over, and you could write on the other side.”

Avatar Screenwriters Arrived Late to Their First Meeting

     20th Century Studios

According to screenwriter Rick Jaffa, they were late for their first meeting at the Manhattan Beach production office. Jaffa and his partner, Amanda Silver, are the writers for Avatar: The Way of Water and the subsequent upcoming film. The first Avatar film, released in 2009, had already pulled in big numbers at the box office when the director approached Avatar: The Way of Water screenwriters about his vision for Pandora. Silver remembers how stressful it was being late to the critical meeting back in 2013.

​​“Oh, we’re not going to talk about that, are we?” she says. “That was horrible!”

Despite the hurdles of Los Angeles traffic, Jaffa and Silver were on board to create the following chapters of the franchise. The screenwriters say they were transported into Cameron’s mind as they started work on the projects with Shane Salerno and Josh Friedman. According to Variety, Cameron immediately dove into the project, passionately collaborating with the team of four writers. The group became a production family, and the initial mapping process was highly collaborative as writers were only assigned films once most of the research and planning was complete.

Avatar: The Way of Water is currently in theaters nationwide.