Avatar 3: Fire and Ash Filming Status
The third installment of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise has completed its principal photography. Filming for Avatar: Fire and Ash wrapped up in late December 2020, after more than three years of continuous shooting that began in September 2017 in New Zealand alongside Avatar: The Way of Water.
By September 2020, director James Cameron confirmed that 95 percent of the film had been finished. The remaining work involved pick-up shots, which are additional scenes filmed after principal photography ends. Cameron stated at that time that the crew was shooting pick-ups to fill in the last 2 or 3 percent of the movie, with live-action pick-ups scheduled for June of the following year.
The post-production process has been extensive. After filming wrapped, the team moved into visual effects work, which Cameron described as an enormous undertaking. This phase has consumed considerable time and resources as the filmmakers worked to complete the visual effects for the entire film.
Avatar: Fire and Ash had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on December 1, 2025, and is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on December 19, 2025. The film carries an estimated budget of 400 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive films ever produced.
The production faced nine separate delays since filming wrapped, primarily due to the need for additional time on writing, pre-production, and visual effects work. The development of new underwater performance capture technology, which had never been accomplished before at this scale, contributed to the extended timeline. The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike also pushed back the release date.
The film will be released in Dolby Vision format, continuing the visual technology approach used by its predecessor. With the world premiere completed and the theatrical release imminent, Avatar: Fire and Ash represents the culmination of years of development and production work.
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