Back to Pandora: Sam Worthington spills details on the next Avatar adventure (news)

Well, well, well, if it isn’t Sam Worthington, back at it again with his tales of Avatar’s larger-than-life return. Spilling the beans to PEOPLE at Netflix’s Lift premiere, Sam’s teasing that the next Avatar is going to be, in his words, “bigger than you can imagine.” Now, considering the first movie had us all feeling like we could ride a banshee, that’s a pretty tall order!

Picture this: It’s 2024, and Sam’s casually chatting it up at Lincoln Center in New York City, probably surrounded by a sea of jazz and some high-brow Netflix chatter. Then, out of the blue, he drops the Pandora-sized bombshell: Avatar is back in production in a month. The crowd must have gasped louder than a Na’vi seeing a human for the first time.

Now, let’s talk about this franchise. It started way back in 2009 with Sam playing Jake Sully, the marine-turned-Na’vi, alongside Zoe Saldaña’s Neytiri. Fast forward to 2022, and they hit us with Avatar: The Way of Water, which apparently was just a warm-up for what’s to come.

James Cameron, the man, the myth, the legend behind these epic tales, told PEOPLE in December that Avatar 3 is cooking nicely and should be ready by Dec. 19, 2025. Yeah, you read that right, 2025. At this rate, we might need to freeze ourselves to avoid any spoilers. Cameron’s dishing out some behind-the-scenes details too. Apparently, Avatar 2 was a bit of a rollercoaster, with the pandemic playing the role of the uninvited guest. But, according to him, Avatar 3 is more straightforward. Here’s hoping “straightforward” in Cameron-speak doesn’t mean another decade of waiting. Oh, and let’s not forget Avatar 4, scheduled for 2029. By then, we’ll probably be watching movies in space or something. Cameron’s playing the long game, revealing they’ve got to shoot the “come back” part after Avatar 3 hits the screens. It’s like he’s building a cinematic universe that spans actual decades.

Avatar: The Way of Water made a splash with a cool $2.3 billion worldwide, but it’s still playing second fiddle to the original Avatar’s $2.9 billion. That’s a lot of unobtainium.

And for those keeping score, Kate Winslet’s diving back in as Ronal. She’s been hanging out with shamans to get into character. Just a typical Tuesday for a Cameron film, right?

So, there you have it. Sam Worthington’s dropping hints, Cameron’s planning sequels like we plan grocery runs, and we’re all just sitting here wondering if we should start learning Na’vi. Get ready, folks. Avatar’s about to get even bigger, and our 3D glasses are at the ready.