The studio behind the Postal franchise just announced that it will be publishing a brand new Postal game, to be developed by Goonswarm Games. Unfortunately, it even more recently announced it would be cancelling said game, due to accusations that Goonswarm had used generative AI in its development.

The game, entitled Postal: Bullet Paradise, was announced earlier this week on Wednesday with a reveal trailer and press release. It purports to be a "timeline-hopping, dystopian bullet heavne first-person shooter" set in the Postal universe, where players can select from 11 unlockable Postal Dudes from different timelines and, well, shoot people.

However, not long after the trailer debuted, Postal fans began pointing out that the game had a lot of hallmarks of assets made with generative AI. When we went to embed the trailer into this article for you to watch, our access to the video file had been cut off and the official version had been removed from YouTube. You can still watch it through the Steam page here and judge for yourself.

Checking in on the Postal subreddit, you can see some of the feedback. Fan spoint out that the pixel sprites' mouths "don't make sense", and elements such as shading and pixel placement are off somehow. They also point out that Goonswarm has almost certainly used generative AI in its games before (a close watch of this trailer has a number of pretty obvious indicators), making it likely it would do so again:

When accusations initially began flying, both Goonswarm and Running With Scissors denied the use of generative AI. As Goonswarm told PCGamesN in a statement:

No generative AI was used for the reveal trailer or for the game. All assets were created by our human artists using standard tools. We've already shared layered PSDs, work-in-progress files, and other materials to confirm this. Any mistakes or rough spots in those files are being misinterpreted as 'proof' of AI, but they simply reflect the normal, human art-creation process

Meanwhile, while Running With Scissors initially promised to investigate further, studio co-owner Mike Jeret angered the Postal audience further by not just vehemently denying there was generative AI in the game, but also using fairly strong language toward the accusers, referring to them as "ignorant assholes" and telling anyone who thought the game used generative AI to "excuse yourself from our Discord."

But finally, today, the publisher has taken a definitive stance. Running With Scissors announced it would be canceling the game entirely, saying that the audience feedback had caused "extreme damage to our brand and our company reputation" and that it no longer trusted the development team.

Here's Running With Scissors' statement in full:

After revealing Postal: Bullet Paradise, a title Running With Scissors was planning on publishing but not developing, we've been overwhelmed with negative responses from our concerned Postal Community. The strong feedback from them is that elements of the game are very likely AI-generated and thus has caused extreme damage to our brand and our company reputation.

We’ve always been, and will always be, transparent with our community. Our trust in the development team is broken; therefore, we've killed the project. We have a lot of good things coming (some you know and some you don’t).

Since forming Running With Scissors in 1996, we’ve always said that our fans are part of the team. Our priority is to always do right by the millions who support the Postal franchise. We are grateful for the opportunity to make the games we want to play, and will continue to focus on our new projects and updates coming in 2026 and beyond. We can’t wait to share more!

Fan feedback in response to this seems generally positive, with a number of people suggesting they were excited about the premise of the game and hoped it could be passed on to a different developer. Some are still hoping for an apology from Jeret for his language toward the community, but that has not yet manifested. IGN has also reached out to Goonswarm for an updated statement.

This is far from the first time the Postal games, which are essentially about various guys committing mass shootings, have been embroiled in controversy. The last mainline game, Postal 4: NoRegerts, released in 2022 to a rare 2/10 from us. Our reviewer said that "the comedy is lazy and embarrassing, the combat is messy and painfully unsatisfying, and it runs so poorly on high-end hardware that it can scarcely be enjoyed at all even by those just hoping for some campy shock humor." Running With Scissors has also released multiple spinoffs in recent years, such as 2022's Postal: Brain Damaged by CreativeForge Games and a 2023 April Fool's joke in POOSTALL Royale.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

GTA fans finally have their first look at Grand Theft Auto 5 character Michael in the Grand Theft Auto universe since the game launched back in 2013.

We can see Michael in the trailer for GTA Online DLC A Safehouse in the Hills, below. In the teaser for the upcoming expansion, which adds a luxurious new home for the most successful of online criminals to the online mode, a noticeably older, greying, Michael De Santa and his wife Amanda can be seen greeting a player at the front door of their fancy new Hollywood Hills crib. This is the first time that Michael, played by Ned Luke, has been seen in the Grand Theft Auto universe since GTA 5 launched back in 2013.

The update also settles any lingering questions around the canon ending for GTA 5, confirming once and for all that Option C, otherwise known as “Deathwish”, is how the story should end.

It now means that all three playable protagonists, with Franklin and Trevor being the other two, have appeared in GTA Online. Naturally, this means the “Deathwish” ending is now canon in Online’s version of Los Santos, as this is the only way that all three characters remain alive at the end of GTA 5’s final mission “The Third Way” — one of three possible last levels available depending on the player’s choice. For reference, “Something Sensible” is Option A, which leaves both Franklin and Michael alive, but kills Trevor, and “The Time’s Come” is Option B, resulting in Franklin and Trevor’s survival, but Michael’s death.

In all three possible endings, Franklin lives to walk the streets of Los Santos, so it always felt natural that he’d be a part of GTA Online, which takes place after the events of Grand Theft Auto 5. Trevor has also been present since 2013, giving the online protagonist missions and calling to berate them over the phone in his own peculiar manner, but this is the first time we’ve seen Michael’s face since.

Eagle-eared online players would’ve heard a small reference to the professional bank robber back in 2021, though, which, although it definitely alludes to Michael, didn’t 100% confirm he was still around. This occurs when Franklin is chasing two golfers through the Richards Majestic Studios film lot in the centre of the city. This is one of the places Michael works in order to achieve his Hollywood movie-producing dreams in the main game’s campaign. Franklin remarks, “I know one of the producers around here. I hope his ass ain’t work today…”, suggesting De Santa is still employed there after all this time.

It is curious that Rockstar has chosen to put Michael back into the world of GTA so many years after we saw him last, and it does beg the question of how long this was planned for, seeing as this update has dropped so close to GTA 6’s previous release date of November 19, 2025. Is this the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer saying their final goodbye to these characters before gearing up to unleash Lucia and Jason into the world in 2026?

How do you feel about the “Deathwish” ending being chosen by Rockstar as the canonical one for GTA 5? Let us know in the comments below. And, of course, for everything GTA 6, stick with IGN.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Netflix's $85.2 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. will see the streaming service gain access to a vast vault of content — which, according to a new report, could be used as a potential "AI trove."

Speaking today on an investor call attended by IGN, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos repeatedly mentioned future "innovation" as one of the reasons why the streamer was so keen to own Warner Bros.' 102-year-old back catalogue, which includes movies in the Harry Potter and DC Comics franchises, as well as TV series such as Game of Thrones, Friends and The Big Bang Theory.

Now, insider sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that the subtext behind Sarandos' mentions of innovation was the huge boost to Netflix's AI plans that Warner Bros.' library of content could bring — both to train future AI models and to allow subscribers access to generate their own creations using licensed assets.

Viewed through this lens, the Netflix and Warner Bros. deal makes even more sense. For its part, Netflix has already built a finely-tuned content algorithm based on machine-learning and granular knowledge of its millions of subscribers. Warner Bros., meanwhile, has a enormous back catalogue of content that can be plugged in to Netflix's existing service — and used to create more content in future.

Netflix has long been accused of producing new TV series and movies designed by algorithm, using past viewing data to greenlight projects it can safely expect will be enjoyed by swathes of its subscriber base. Even on a base level, having access to Warner Bros.' catalogue will undoubtedly help Netflix's algorithm learn even more about its users' viewing habits, with such a large library now part of its own service.

But beyond that, content companies are clearly keen to experiment further with AI generation and offer licensed access to their own franchises as a premium feature. Last month, Disney boss Bob Iger stated that he expected to see user-generated AI content appearing on Disney+ in the near future, as part of what he described as one of "the biggest and the most significant changes — from a product perspective, from a technology perspective — since we launched the service in 2019."

The suggestion is that Disney will let its paying customers create videos using its licensed characters and share them with others via the platform — as a more official version of what happened when AI generation platform Sora 2 launched a few months ago and briefly allowed users to create mash-ups featuring Mickey Mouse, Pokémon, and Star Wars, before copyright rules were enforced.

Considering the vast back catalogue at Disney's fingertips, it's perhaps no surprise to see Netflix keen to obtain a similarly historic library for itself, as the streaming wars heat up further.

"Our mission has always been to entertain the world," Netflix's Sarandos said earlier today. "By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies — from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends — with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game, we'll be able to do that even better. Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Fresh from announcing it has bought Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion, Netflix has confirmed the release date of the upcoming film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man in theaters as well as on the streaming platform itself.

The upcoming continuation of the story of the Shelbys makes its debut with a theatrical rollout in select theaters beginning on March 6, 2026, two weeks before it hits Netflix on March 20.

To coincide with the announcement, Netflix released a poster, below, showing star Cillian Murphy, who will reprise his role as Tommy Shelby, sitting on a horse with his eyes in shadow under the brim of his signature hat.

Noah Schnapp, one of the stars of the beloved Netflix hit Stranger Things, seemingly accidentally revealed two crucial spoilers during a recent episode of the Hot Ones YouTube show, which were promptly edited out.

Warning! Spoilers (we think!) for Stranger Things Season 5 follow:

Schnapp — alongside costars Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, and Caleb McLaughlin — appeared on an episode of Hot Ones Versus (the version of the iconic interview series that doesn’t feature host Sean Evans), where he dropped a couple bombs, namely that Vecna is controlled, or, as he put it, "is run" by the Mind Flayer, while recapping the entire series in just 30 seconds.

Trying desperately to condense the events of each Stranger Things season in half a minute, Schnapp also let spill that in Season 2, his character, Will, built the tunnels under Hawkins after he was kidnapped and possessed by Vecna in Season 1, something the show has yet to confirm.

As for the Vecna reveal, there is a little leeway here for Schnapp’s transgression. Technically, the notion that Vecna has been controlled by the Mind Flayer was first presented in the Broadway play Stranger Things: The First Shadow. In the theatrical exploration of the show, it is suggested that the Mind Flayer gave Henry Creel (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) his powers, which in turn led him to become Vecna. So if you’ve seen the play, you’d have at least a baseline knowledge of that idea — but most fans have not and were otherwise dark about the connection until now.

Despite Hot Ones editing the video pretty quickly, fans latched onto the spoilers and grabbed clips of the video before it was removed, which are now all over social media and Reddit.

said will built the tunnels and that vecna is run by the mindflayer… these are absolutely spoilers that accidentally slipped through 😭 https://t.co/SmbfBxEzbZ pic.twitter.com/PvpPDcchYx

— 🐰 (@c_tviz) December 2, 2025

“They Barbara Streisand-ed the Hot Ones video,” one fan wrote on the Stranger Things subreddit, to which another user replied, “Lol, that’s sorta funny considering they used a Barbara Streisand song about 'memories' in the show.”

“THEY CUT IT OUT I CAN'T BREATHE,” another person wrote on Twitter/X, while another fan remarked about the faces Wolfhard and McLaughlin make during the interview, suggesting that they realized Schnapp was airing out spoilers. “I didn't notice Finn and Caleb's faces, omg u might be right,” they wrote in response to a fan who shared the clip. “​​wow, that’s not subtle at all…” one tweet read. “someone’s getting the wrath of the internet.”

Of course, Schnapp may have simply got all this wrong, and his version of the events of the series may not be entirely accurate. But the fact his "spoilers" were edited out of the show does suggest Netflix isn't happy with them being out there.

Needless to say, we’ll see how this all shakes down in the next four episodes of Stranger Things, which will continue the three-drop release strategy. The first four episodes of Season 5 were released on Netflix for Thanksgiving and the next four will arrive on Christmas. The final episode of the series will drop both on the streamer and in theaters nationwide on New Year’s Eve.

Stranger Things Season 5 release dates:

• VOL 1 - November 26, 5pm PT
• VOL 2 - Christmas, 5pm PT
• THE FINALE - New Year’s Eve, 5pm PT

We’ve got plenty more on Stranger Things, including Ross Duffer’s call to arms for fans to turn off “garbage” TV settings before watching Season 5. And be sure to check out our Stranger Things: Season 5, Vol. 1 spoiler review to find out what we think of how the show is going.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

It’s that time of the year when a flurry of new video game trailers and gameplay reveals are shown as part of the annual Game Awards. And while who wins Game of the Year will steal some of the headlines on December 11, a lot of the excitement also comes from the secrets and surprises that get unleashed in the form of new game announcements.

So we’re keeping tabs on what has been confirmed to make an appearance so far, what has been teased, and some of the pie-in-the-sky dream games we know deep down in our brains won’t be there, but our heart tells us there might just be a chance. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be quite as far-fetched as to say GTA 6 will be at The Game Awards, nor The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt Red has already confirmed won’t be. But that’s enough of that. Let’s head straight into what you can expect from The Game Awards 2025.

What We Know Will Be There

Regal. Inspiring. Thickness. No, not words often used to describe me, but the ones that accompanied Geoff Keighley’s social media post of a mysterious demon-covered monolith that appeared in the Mojave Desert last week. Theories have been flying out as to what it could be teasing, but much of that speculation has been debunked, with Diablo, God of War, and The Elder Scrolls 6 all supposedly not what it relates to. What do you think it is?

regal.inspiring.thickness pic.twitter.com/lY1duUcE1B

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 29, 2025

We do know that Resident Evil Requiem will be showing up on the 11th with a new look at the long-running horror series’ latest entry. Arriving early next year, rumours have been circulating ever since its original reveal that Resident Evil 4 hunk, Leon Kennedy, will make an appearance in Requiem. Is now the time for Capcom to confirm his inclusion?

A new playable character will be revealed for Invincible VS, though. The fighting game adaptation of the cult-favourite comic and animated TV show has garnered a lot of attention since its summer reveal, so who do you think this character will be? We’ll also get a good look at Exodus, the upcoming sci-fi action RPG from Archetype Studios, formed by former BioWare developers. With that sort of Mass Effect pedigree behind it, it's certainly one we’re looking forward to seeing a lot more of. We also know that a new Total War game will be revealed by developer Creative Assembly, following the series' 25th anniversary.

And finally, we know that one of the musical performances on Thursday night will be from Evanescence, who will be showcasing their song “Afterlife” from the Netflix adaptation of Devil May Cry. Would I prefer they did “Bring Me to Life” with Nathan Fielder dressed as an airline pilot on backing vocals? Yes, of course, but we can’t have everything in this world.

What Might Be There

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke the record for the most nominations of The Game Awards, and looks set to be one of the big winners of the night. Could we see a release date announcement for the upcoming free update that will add a new dungeon, among other treats? Who knows, maybe even a cheeky little shadow drop…

Another announcement we could see from one of the big nominees of the night is a wider console release for Hades 2. Currently only on PC and Switch, could one of 2025’s best games come to PS5 and Xbox?

Fallout Season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, and given Geoff’s penchant for having stars of the big and small screen on stage at The Game Awards, we wouldn’t be shocked to see some combination of Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins arrive to give us a sneak peek of what’s to come.

Speaking of stars of the big screen, things don’t come much more cinematic than James Bond. 007 First Light is the upcoming action-adventure from Hitman studio IO Interactive, and it's shaping up very nicely, as you can read in my big preview. With it coming out in March 2026, surely we’re due for another hit on the Bond pipe soon. Could a big reveal, such as who the villain will be, or who is performing the game’s theme, be at The Game Awards? The stage certainly seems set for the latter to come with a live performance at the show.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which is being helmed by Uncharted’s Amy Hennig, moved out of early 2026. The delay may mean that we’ll be waiting a little longer to play Captain America and Black Panther’s WW2 adventure, but is now the time for a full gameplay reveal?

Speaking of Marvel, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine is due late 2026, and while we’ve had some teases of what it will look like in action, we’d certainly love to see more. As for other PlayStation exclusives, Housemarque’s Saros looks set to follow in the sci-fi shooter footsteps of breakout hit Returnal when it arrives in March. Again, we’d love to see more. And one PlayStation Studios game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, may well be a while off yet — if you think you’re playing this in 2026, keep dreaming — but seeing as it got its big reveal at last year’s Game Awards, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see a bigger look at Naughty Dog’s next project very soon.

On the Xbox side of things, could we finally get a good look at some Fable gameplay? Or maybe see Gears of War: E-Day in action? There’s also Forza Horizon 6 on the way next year, of which we’ve seen nothing but the smallest of teasers. We know it's set in Japan, so we would love to see just how beautiful Playground Games’ depiction of Tokyo is. Plus, let’s face it, driving games can never resist pulling out all of the stops and placing their cover car centre of stage at events like this.

It also wouldn’t be a Geoff Keighley show with a sprinkling of Hideo Kojima into the mix. The Metal Gear Solid creator is up for a few awards thanks to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, but might we also get a look at what is coming up next from him? Xbox horror exclusive OD: Knock continues to be teased as it conjures up unsettling memories of P.T, so we could see more of that. There’s also Physint, his PlayStation espionage action exclusive. That may well be far away at this point, but not beyond the realms of possibility for Kojima to tease further.

Another legendary developer, Ken Levine, continues to work away on Judas. It’s been over 12 years since he last released a game, 2013’s Bioshock Infinite, so who really knows if now is the time to finally give us a launch date for this one. I’m very excited about it, but I won’t let myself get carried away until I have any idea when I’ll actually be able to play it. Something I have already been able to play a little of is Phantom Blade Zero, a quite punishing sword action game from Chinese developer S-Game. It was originally meant to arrive in 2025, but could a release date finally be unveiled on the 11th?

And, finally for now. FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, has been very quiet ever since its initial reveal back in April's Nintendo Direct. Due for 2026 – and seeing Keighley has had several previous Hidetaka Miyazaki-related reveals at The Game Awards in the past – maybe now is the time for an in-depth look at exactly what this co-op action RPG is.

What We Can Dream Will Be There

Well, at least we don’t have to close our eyes and cross our fingers in hope of a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date anymore. But will Team Cherry tease DLC for one of 2025’s best games? Even I won’t go as far as to genuinely suggest that.

Another one of this year’s best games is Donkey Kong Bananza, which served as Nintendo’s big launch window 3D platformer. That may have come as a surprise to some who thought Mario would have that position nailed down. Could we see a new 3D Mario game announced at The Game Awards? It’s admittedly a long shot, but with the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie on the way next Spring, it sure would be nice to have a new game to play alongside it.

What might be more likely is a look at what Cory Barlog has been cooking up at Sony Santa Monica. A new game from the God of War director outside of that universe has been rumoured for a long time now, and it feels like we may be getting closer to seeing what it is. The Game Awards has a pattern of bringing back past winners of the Game of the Year award to tease their next projects. So this gives us a little hope here.

Following on from that train of thought, two recent recipients of the big prize have been Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. The former’s creator, FromSoftware, may well bring The Duskbloods with them, as mentioned earlier, but what about a new single-player action RPG in the mould of what has made them so well-renowned? Bloodborne 2, anyone? I almost feel bad for mentioning it. As for Baldur’s Gate 3, developer Larian is surely now working on its next game, although seeing as BG3 did take many, many years to make, we won’t be expecting to play this one soon. Could we see a tease of what’s to come, though? Do you think it would be Baldur’s Gate 4 or something altogether different?

Baldur’s Gate’s original developer, BioWare, has its sights set on the stars, as the EA studio returns to the beloved sci-fi RPG series, Mass Effect. Could we be given a glimpse into where the story may be heading next? Or dare we even dream of some Mass Effect 5 gameplay? That may be a little too far, but I do like to dream.

And speaking of dreaming, I can’t not mention Half-Life 3. Rumours have been circulating over recent weeks that the long, long-awaited FPS sequel might actually be in development, with an announcement imminent. Could it actually be at The Game Awards? Geoff Keighley does have a long history with Valve, but these days it operates more like Rockstar does, with outside help rarely called on for its big marketing beats. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Gordon Freeman pop up on that giant screen, but I won’t believe it until I do.

What would be your dream Game Awards reveal? Let us know in the comments below. Mine, as ever, would be a full Burnout reboot from the original Criterion team, but I may have to admit that I’m not living in 2005 anymore.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Tim Cain, one of the creators of the original Fallout video game, has rejoined Xbox studio Obsidian Entertainment to work on a mystery project.

In a video published on his YouTube channel (which he's used to tell a lot of fun stories about the making of the first Fallout game), Cain said he was now a full-time member of staff at Obsidian, last seen releasing The Outer Worlds 2, Grounded 2, and Avowed. This means he’s not a contractor anymore, and so is not working at other studios, although there is a game set to come out at some point in the future that will have his name on it.

Cain wouldn’t say anything about the project he’s joined Obsidian to work on, and told fans not to even bother guessing what it is.

“I also can’t talk about the project I’m working on at Obsidian, just because that’s covered under NDA,” he said. “Don’t bother guessing. You’re not going to guess right. I would say that I’m probably a lot less retired now than I was before, so that whole video I have on being semi-retired, I guess I’m not.”

Cain last worked at Obsidian as a full-time employee on Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds. He then moved to being a contractor, contributing to The Outer Worlds 2. Obsidian has yet to announce its next project. Last month, Obsidian developers said they were well aware that whenever the studio announces a new game, people ask where Fallout: New Vegas 2 is, but they also love how they’ve been able to create new IP and even release sequels to them.

Fallout Season 2 is set to hit Prime Video this December, and while Bethesda has a new Fallout: New Vegas bundle up its sleeve, there’s no word yet on a Fallout remaster or a Fallout: New Vegas 2 to capitalize on the surge of interest in the franchise. Obsidian is of course the developer of the much-loved 2010 RPG Fallout: New Vegas, so fans often wonder whether it will return to the setting for a sequel, especially given it’s now owned by Bethesda parent company Microsoft.

Obsidian, though, has focused on making brand new games, and it is prolific in doing so. It’s released Grounded (Grounded 2 came out this year), fantasy RPG Avowed (which came out this year), and sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds (The Outer Worlds 2 came out this year). Pentiment, which came out last year, was another brand new game, although I wouldn’t expect a sequel to that any time soon.

Last month, the Fallout 3 remaster that leaked back in 2023 was said to be still in the works. In response to Bethesda development chief Todd Howard’s recent interview with GQ, in which he talked about The Elder Scrolls 6 still being some way off and “some other things we're doing” in the Fallout franchise, VGC reported that a remaster of Fallout 3 along the same lines as this year’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is among them.

There are all sorts of rumors floating around about potential Fallout remakes, and certainly a growing expectation among fans that Bethesda will turn to its older Fallout video games to keep fans on-side while they wait for The Elder Scrolls 6.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Last month, Avatar writer and director James Cameron set the cat among the pigeons when he revealed he was ready to walk away from the franchise if Avatar: Fire and Ash doesn’t make enough profit to convince Disney to bankroll Avatar 4 and 5.

The special effects-heavy Avatar films cost a huge amount of money to produce, but they have historically made billions of dollars at the box office. Avatar: Fire and Ash, due out in December, is expected to follow suit — and the pressure is on to deliver for Disney so Cameron can realize his vision and release Avatar 4 and 5 over the next six years.

Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cameron admitted he was feeling nervous about Avatar: Fire and Ash’s box office performance, and was mindful of the “forces” working against theatrical releases in 2025.

There’s the potential for “sequelitis,” Cameron noted. "People tend to dismiss sequels unless it’s the third Lord of the Rings film and you want to see what happens to everybody, which in my mind this is — this is the culmination of a story arc, but that may not be how the public sees it.”

And there’s the “one-two punch” of streaming and Covid, which means fewer people are going to the movies — 75% of the number in 2019, Cameron suggested.

When pressed on how much Avatar: Fire and Ash cost to make, Cameron wouldn’t be drawn into divulging a figure, only suggesting it was a lot of money, and so the movie will have to make a lot of money to turn a profit.

“It is one metric f**k ton of money, which means we have to make two metric f**k tons of money to make a profit,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”