James Cameron has signalled he may finally step away from the Avatar franchise, telling an interviewer he is now "looking around the landscape" and asking himself what other stories he wants to tell after 21 years devoted to the series. The director said he is weighing which future projects he wants to direct personally versus write or produce, framing decisions around what will "do the most good" and make the world better for his children. This matters because Cameron has directed no film outside the Avatar universe since Titanic in 1997, and fans have long hoped he would return to other genres.

The remarks follow a softening of Cameron's commitment to the previously planned fourth and fifth Avatar instalments. Avatar: Fire and Ash took $1.4 billion at the global box office, a notable decline from $2.7 billion for the original film and $2.4 billion for its sequel, and Cameron has said the films are "hideously expensive and take a long time" to make, adding he wants to cut costs by a third and halve production time. Now 71, he described himself as being in a "liminal state" while mapping out the final act of his career, with no confirmed decision yet on his next project.