James Cameron has confirmed that Michelle Yeoh will not star in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
In 2021, late producer Jon Landau shared a photo on social media of Yeoh on the set of the third Avatar film, which led fans to believe that Yeoh would appear in the upcoming film. It is worth noting that Cameron filmed Avatar: Fire and Ash and the currently untitled Avatar 4 concurrently with 2022’s Avatar: The Way Of Water.
Now, Cameron has cleared the air, confirming that Yeoh – who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2023 for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once – will not be in the third instalment of the franchise. Cameron said to Entertainment Tonight: “Michelle Yeoh won’t be in 3. She’s in 4 and 5. So that got a little bit misreported. She will be coming in soon to do her part, which is an interesting, fun character.”
He continued, explaining how filming for the franchise is planned out: “I mean, we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. This whole thing has been planned for years and years. The scripts were all written years ago, through the end of movie 5. So we’ve been working on parts of 4 even as we go along, mostly because we’ve got this young cast. We had to shoot them all while they were still young.”
“We love Michelle,” Cameron concluded on Yeoh’s involvement. “She was always a movie star, but she’s blown up into a huge, huge phenomenon. I look forward to working there.”
Yeoh was first announced to join the Avatar franchise in 2019, in which she will take on the role of Dr. Karina Mogue.
Avatar: The Way Of Water made over $1billion (£831m) at the global box office in just 14 days following its release, making it the fast film of 2022 to reach that achievement. The film is also now the third highest-grossing film of all time.
Back in December 2022, Cameron revealed he shot scenes for the third and fourth films in the franchise in advance to avoid Stranger Things-style ageing issues with the younger cast members. He also previously revealed that he was prepared to end the franchise after the third film if The Way Of Water wasn’t a box office success.
In a four-star review of Avatar: The Way Of Water for NME, Ali Shutler wrote: “Bigger, bolder and definitely better than the original, Avatar: The Way Of Water pushes the technical boundaries of cinema without feeling like a science experiment. It really does need to be seen on the biggest screen possible through a pair of awkward 3D glasses. Unlike its predecessor though, you won’t forget this experience in a hurry.”