Avatar: Fire and Ash is a 2025 American epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Produced by Lightstorm Entertainment, it is the third installment in the Avatar film series and the sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). The film features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet reprising their roles from previous films. The story follows the human-turned-Na'vi Jake Sully and his family on the habitable moon Pandora, as they face the combined threat of the human RDA forces and the Mangkwan, a ruthless Na'vi clan.
Following the box office success of Avatar (2009), Cameron announced two sequels, with Avatar 3 aiming for a December 2015 release. However, the addition of two further sequels and the development of new performance capture technology required to film scenes underwater led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on writing, pre-production, and visual effects. Avatar: Fire and Ash started shooting simultaneously with The Way of Water in New Zealand on September 25, 2017, and filming wrapped in late December 2020. With an estimated production budget of at least $350 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Avatar: Fire and Ash had its world premiere at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, on December 1, 2025, and was released in the United States on December 19 by 20th Century Studios. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual effects, action sequences and spectacle, but criticized its runtime and script. The film grossed $1.490 billion worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the lowest-grossing film of the Avatar series. It won awards for its visual effects at the 98th Academy Awards and 79th British Academy Film Awards, and was named one of the top ten films of 2025 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review. Two sequels, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, are scheduled for release in 2029 and 2031, respectively.
Plot
Shortly after the death of Jake and Neytiri's eldest son Neteyam, the Sully family grieves amongst the Metkayina, with Neytiri developing a deeper hatred toward humans. After Spider's breathing mask runs out of power during his sleep, Jake and Neytiri decide he must return to the human scientist camp for his safety. The Sully family accompanies him on the trip aboard a fleet of flying merchant vessels.
The merchant convoy is ambushed by raiders of the Mangkwan, an aggressive Na'vi clan. Led by their matriarch Varang, the Mangkwan loot and set fire to the ships, killing many and scattering the Sully family. After Miles Quaritch captures Jake, the two work together to locate Spider. Meanwhile, Spider collapses when his mask loses power, motivating Jake's adopted daughter Kiri to spontaneously infuse his body with mycelia, which gives him the ability to breathe Pandora's air.
The Mangkwan capture Quaritch, Jake and the children, after which Quaritch teaches Varang how to use firearms. Kiri commands nearby flora to kill their guards, enabling everyone to escape. The human scientists Norm Spellman and Max Patel believe Spider's mycelia could be reverse engineered to allow other humans to breathe on Pandora. Kiri learns that she was born from Eywa, but is blocked from connecting with her. Quaritch offers guns and flamethrowers to the Mangkwan and convinces them to form an alliance, then begins an intimate relationship with Varang.
Kiri helps Spider explore his newfound ability to neurally connect with other organisms, and they share a kiss. Quaritch captures Spider and then arrives at the Metkayina village with the Mangkwan, demanding that Jake turn himself in. Jake surrenders to avoid bloodshed, and he and Spider are taken to the Resources Development Administration (RDA) base. Jake's son Lo'ak searches for Payakan ahead of a Tulkun congregation that will be targeted by RDA hunters. RDA biologist Ian Garvin urges the hunters to back down, but he is ignored.
Spider undergoes testing by RDA scientists, while Jake is scheduled to be executed. Neytiri infiltrates the RDA base, and Garvin frees Jake. After Jake, Neytiri and Spider escape, Jake regretfully prepares to kill Spider so the RDA cannot learn more about his breathing abilities. However, Jake cannot bring himself to kill him, and they embrace.
At the Metkayina village, the Tulkun council hear Jake's warning about an impending massacre, but decide not to change their pacifist ways. However, when Lo'ak brings Payakan and Ta'nok, both disfigured Tulkun hunting raid survivors, the Tulkun elders reconsider. Jake re-bonds with the apex predator Toruk and rallies the Na'vi clans to battle. When the RDA fleet arrives for the hunt, the Tulkun and Na'vi ambush them. However, Quaritch and the Mangkwan arrive and turn the tide in their favor. The Metkayina matriarch Ronal is wounded and dies in childbirth, with Neytiri delivering her baby daughter, Pril, before being captured.
With the help of Spider and Jake's daughter Tuk, Kiri finally communicates with Eywa and pleads for help. In answer, the Pandoran wildlife ambush the rest of the RDA forces, saving the cornered Tulkun. Varang tries to kill Neytiri, but is repelled by Kiri. Ta'nok kills the lead Tulkun hunter Mick Scorseby. Jake and Quaritch are thrown into a magnetic flux, which is destroying the remaining RDA vessels. As Jake and Quaritch fight, Spider falls off a floating rock, forcing them to work together to save him. When Neytiri and her children arrive, Quaritch throws himself off the rock.
After the battle, Spider and the Metkayina connect to the underwater spirit trees, where Spider meets all the deceased Na'vi. Kiri introduces Spider to her mother, Grace, and they initiate him into the Na'vi people.
Cast
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully: A human who was transferred into a Na'vi body and led the effort to drive the RDA off Pandora. In the second film, he and his family joined the Metkayina clan. Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri: A Na'vi warrior and Jake's wife. Saldaña said Neytiri becomes a "full-blown racist" toward humans in Fire and Ash. Sigourney Weaver as Kiri: Jake and Neytiri's adopted daughter who was born from Dr. Grace Augustine's inert Na'vi avatar. Weaver also reprised her role as Augustine, who appears in visions. Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch: A former human commander of the RDA security forces who was killed by Neytiri, then resurrected as a Na'vi recombinant. Oona Chaplin as Varang: The leader of the warmongering Mangkwan clan of Na'vi. Cameron said Varang's clan experienced "an incredible hardship" which "hardened" her. He explained that she "will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil".
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari: Chief of the Metkayina, Ronal's husband, and the father of Tsireya and Aonung. Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman: A human scientist and ally of the Na'vi who stayed on Pandora when the RDA was driven off. CCH Pounder as Mo'at: The Omaticaya's spiritual leader and Neytiri's mother. Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore: Commander of the RDA's military operations and Quaritch's superior. David Thewlis as Peylak: The Na'vi leader of the merchant Wind Traders. Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin: A marine biologist employed by Scoresby. Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge: The former administrator of the RDA mining operation.
* Kate Winslet as Ronal: The pregnant wife of Tonowari, chief of the Metkayina reef clan. Britain Dalton as Lo'ak: Jake and Neytiri's son who formed a bond with the outcast Tulkun Payakan. Jamie Flatters as Neteyam: Jake and Neytiri's older son who died in battle and now appears in visions. Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey ("Tuk"): Jake and Neytiri's daughter and their youngest child. Jack Champion as Miles "Spider" Socorro: The teenaged human son of Quaritch who was adopted by Jake and Neytiri. Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby: A hunter of the whale-like Tulkun. Bailey Bass as Tsireya: The daughter of Ronal and Tonowari. Filip Geljo as Aonung: The son of Ronal and Tonowari. Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo: A Metkayina youth.
Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet: An RDA soldier who died and was resurrected as a Na'vi recombinant. Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel: A human scientist and ally of the Na'vi who stayed on Pandora when the RDA was driven off.
Briefly reprising their roles from the first film are Wes Studi as Eytukan, the chief of the Omaticaya and Neytiri's father, and Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey, Eytukan's successor.
Production Development
Following the box office success of Avatar (2009), Cameron announced two sequels, which were originally scheduled for release in 2014 and 2015. He said he would shoot the sequels back-to-back and at a higher frame rate than the industry standard 24 frames per second, in order to add a heightened sense of reality. In late 2013, he revealed that the sequels would be filmed in New Zealand, with performance capture filming to take place in 2014. An agreement with the New Zealand government required at least one world premiere to be held in Wellington and at least NZ$500 million (roughly US$410 million) to be spent on production activity in New Zealand, including live-action filming and visual effects. The government announced it would raise its baseline tax rebate for filmmaking from 15% to 20%, with 25% available to international productions in some cases.
By February 2016, production of the sequels was scheduled to begin that April. New crew members for the sequels included cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who worked with Cameron on True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997), and art director Aashrita Kamath. Kirk Krack, founder of Performance Freediving International, worked as a freediving trainer for the cast and crew for the underwater scenes. On July 31, 2017, it was announced that the New Zealand-based visual effects studio Weta Digital had commenced work on the Avatar sequels.
In a 2023 interview, Cameron announced that the film would feature a new Na'vi clan, called the "Ash people", who would be antagonists in the film. On August 9, 2024, the title of the film was announced by Cameron at the D23 Disney fan convention. Cameron said "fire" refers to anger, hatred and violence, while "ash" refers to grief and loss.
Writing
Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were originally announced as Cameron's co-writers. It was later announced that Jaffa, Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno all played a role in the writing process for all the films before being assigned to finish separate scripts. According to Cameron, Fire and Ash was split from Avatar: The Way of Water due to an excessive amount of material.
When writing Fire and Ash, Cameron prioritized character development over novel spectacles. He introduced the Mangkwan, or "Ash People"—a ruthless, warmongering clan of Na'vi inspired by the Baining people of Papua New Guinea—because he wanted the film series to move beyond the paradigm of "all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good". He said the nomadic merchant Wind Traders were inspired by camel caravans of the Spice Road during the Middle Ages.
After the 2022 Uvalde school shooting in Texas, Cameron rewrote parts of Fire and Ash to avoid glorifying gun violence and "fetishizing" assault weapons. Originally, the Metkayina decided to use guns to defend the Tulkun, but Cameron changed the script, choosing to have the clan reject firearms instead. Cameron said he did not want guns to "contaminate" the Na'vi culture. After audiences responded positively to the Tulkun character Payakan in The Way of Water, Cameron made changes to Fire and Ash so he would be featured more prominently in the story.
Casting