“Avatar 3” Fails at the Box Office

“Avatar 3” Fails at the Box Office

At last, critics have reached James Cameron, and the first reviews offer little cause for optimism. The film will be released worldwide on December 19, but it is already being regarded as the most controversial installment of the franchise.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has scored 68% — noticeably lower than its predecessors: the first Avatar (2009) received 81%, while Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) earned 76%. On Metacritic, the average score stands at 62/100, compared to 83/100 for the original and 67/100 for the sequel.

Critical opinions are divided. On the one hand, nearly everyone agrees that the film remains visually impressive. The work of cinematographer Russell Carpenter and the scale of the sets have been widely praised. Reviewer Sean Tajipour notes: “James Cameron is capable — and always will be — of creating an unparalleled cinematic spectacle, pushing visual effects and emotions to a new level.” Courtney Howard even states that such films “remind us why movie theaters exist.”

However, many critics describe the story as shallow and predictable, and consider the 3-hour-and-17-minute runtime excessive. The Hollywood Reporter writes: “This is perhaps the most derivative entry in the series. Within its exhaustingly bloated runtime, there is far too much time spent being irritated by mediocre dialogue.” Some reviewers also point out that the world of Pandora feels “overly artificial,” while the characters appear “flat.”

Interestingly, James Cameron himself does not hide his doubts about the future of the franchise. In The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, he hinted that if Fire and Ash fails to break even, the fourth and fifth installments may never be made. Nevertheless, the planned release dates for the next films remain December 21, 2029, and December 19, 2031.