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Disney has pulled back the curtain on "Avatar: Fire and Ashes" and unveiled new footage from "Star Wars" and the Pixar films at a giant exhibition in front of 12,000 fans in California.
"Avatar" director James Cameron took the stage at the company's biennial fan gathering, D23. He announced the name of the latest installment in his sci-fi franchise, due out in December 2025.
"The new movie is not what you expect. But it's definitely what you want," Cameron was quoted as saying by AFP.
The previous two "Avatar" films are the highest-grossing and third-highest-grossing movies of all time, earning a combined $5.2 billion.
Footage from the new film, which is currently in production in New Zealand, showed the Na'vi people dancing around a campfire, as well as images of giant ships and flying beasts.
The director promised plenty of thrills, as well as "new cultures and environments, creatures and new biomes".
"You'll see a lot more Pandora, the planet you've never seen before," he said.
The fourth and fifth "Avatar" films are planned for 2029 and 2031.
Also at Friday's presentation, Disney fans saw footage from "The Mandalorian and Groog," which will be released in 2026. It will be the first "Star Wars" movie since 2019's "Rise of Skywalker."
Disney, which was producing one new film in the "Star Wars" franchise each year a while back, has abruptly hit the brakes due to declining box office returns.
"We're bringing Star Wars back to the big screen," said Dave Filoni, producer of the new film - which is spun off from the streaming series "The Mandalorian" and will feature baby Yoda.
The footage showed the cute creature and his mercenary friend on a snowy planet. | BGNES
