Avatar 3 May Be Delayed, But James Cameron’s Most Underrated Movie Is Heading Back To Theaters For One Night Only

Avatar fans are going to have to wait a little longer than they planned for the sci-fi franchise’s third movie. The release date has been shuffled from a December 2023 release date to December 2025, meaning Avatar 4 and 5 will come out in 2029 and 2031. You may have to wait for Avatar 3, but there is an underrated James Cameron movie that’s gonna get the re-release treatment for one night only.

Previously James Cameron revealed the one movie he’d love to redo with the tools currently available to him. That would be the sci-fi/adventure film The Abyss about a search and recovery team making an unexpected discovery deep in the ocean while trying to rescue a sunken submarine in the Caribbean. If you haven’t seen this top-grossing movie yet or you’d like to revisit it, Cameron has some exciting news for you in his X post.  

The chance to see The Abyss in 4K is here! In a separate X post by 20th Century Studios, James Cameron explained that audiences would get the chance to see the movie he’s always set out to make with footage not shown in the original cut. In the trailer for the one-night-only release, this looks like quite the visual experience. It’s no surprise coming from the visionary filmmaker as he’s known for being a real innovative perfectionist. Despite being one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, one of the main actors of The Abyss, Michael Biehn, felt Cameron’s first ocean film made a “misstep” for not having the technological advancements they needed to make the ending they always wanted. Maybe this time around, the film’s ending will be what the Canadian filmmaker has originally sought out for.  

Following The Abyss came more ocean movies from James Cameron. There were underwater documentaries like Deepsea Challenge 3D, Aliens of the Deep, and Ghosts of the Abyss. As for feature films, you can’t forget about one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Titanic. And Cameron had dazzling underwater technology that was a real stand-out for Avatar: The Way of Water. Interestingly enough, there’s a connection between The Abyss and Avatar where the deep ocean movie basically treaded water so that the Na’vi film can make waves. The Abyss and Avatar show what happens when the human race mixes in with a more advanced alien species. This looks to be a theme the Oscar-winning director wants to see evolving after three decades since The Abyss.

It looks like Avatar 3 is not going to be part of the 2024 movie schedule. On the bright side, something to know about the third movie is that it’s all been filmed. So, we don’t have to wait over a decade for the next movie. Other than the original cast returning, we’ll see new characters in the form of the Ash People which will show a more sinister side to the Na’vi people. There will also be the desert people, windtraders, and a deeper exploration of Pandora in terms of new creatures, biomes, oceans, and arctic. James Cameron always seeks bigger and better with each movie he makes. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Avatar 3 expanded its limits in more ways than one.

It may be a bummer that we have to wait until 2025 for a third Avatar movie. But, at least you can entertain yourself with the re-release of The Abyss part of the 2023 movie release schedule for one night only in theaters on December 6th.