It sounds like Avatar: Fire and Ash may deliver one of James Cameron’s most emotional films yet—at least if his wife’s reaction is anything to go by.
Cameron has revealed that his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, watched an early cut of Avatar 3 late last year and was left visibly shaken. Not just teary-eyed, but full-on wrecked. “My wife watched the whole thing from end to end — she had kept herself away from it and I wasn’t showing her bits and pieces as we went along. This was December 22nd,” Cameron said in an interview with Empire. The result? “She bawled for four hours.”
Apparently, Suzy was so overwhelmed that Cameron couldn’t even get much in the way of constructive feedback. “She kept trying to get her shit back together so she could tell me specific reactions, and then she’d just tear up and start crying again,” he recalled. Eventually, he had to call it a night. “Finally, I’m like, ‘Honey, I’ve got to go to bed. Sorry, we’ll talk about it some other time’,” Cameron laughed.
Of course, Suzy isn’t exactly an unbiased audience—she has been closely tied to Cameron’s career and the Avatar franchise—but the director trusts her instincts. “She’s a pretty good bellwether,” Cameron said. “She called the ball on Titanic and Avatar and Avatar 2. So I trust her heart on it.”
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It’s not the first time Cameron has hinted at the emotional heft of Fire and Ash. During the D23 Expo in August 2024, he teased, “You’ll see a lot more Pandora that you never saw before. It’s an insane adventure and a feast for the eyes, but it’s also got very high emotional stakes, more than ever before.” He added, “We’re going into really challenging territory for all the characters you know and love.”
Given the ending of Avatar: The Way of Water, where the Sully family was hit hard by the loss of their eldest son Neteyam, it’s hard not to wonder who might be next. Cameron’s talk of “really challenging territory” could mean further tragedy for Jake and Neytiri, or even their younger children. There’s also the question of Kiri—whose mysterious connection to Eywa may play a pivotal role—and whether that puts her in danger. And then there’s Payakan, the fan-favourite Tulkun. No one is really safe in Cameron’s Pandora.
One thing seems certain: tissues will be mandatory. Avatar: Fire and Ash will be opening in Australian cinemas on December 18th and US cinemas on December 19th.
