Avatar 2: Why Michelle Yeoh Wanted To Join James Cameron’s Sequel

During the 2009 holiday season into the following year, moviegoers around the world were experiencing James Cameron’s Avatar. The science fiction epic brought together another one of the Terminator and Titanic filmmaker’s groundbreaking visions to the big screen with the movie’s incredible visual effects, 3-D technology and storyline pointed at imperialism. Avatar continues to be the highest-grossing movie of all time and there are currently four sequels in development under Disney.

Along with the return of Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, the Avatar sequels have recruited the likes of Kate Winslet, Edie Falco and Michelle Yeoh – the latter CinemaBlend had the chance to speak to for latest role in Gunpowder Milkshake. Yeoh shared what it’s like to work with James Cameron as we wait to venture back to Pandora:

I said to James ‘I don’t know why I’m here, I’m here because you’re a genius and I am the biggest fan. I mean, I would be your coffee lady. I would just come here and sit down and watch you’ because he really is a genius. He’s created these amazing worlds and there’s just no end to it. You just sit there in awe and listen, and he’s very giving and sharing, so it makes life so easy.

The actress known for her work in Crazy Rich Asians and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon told us (in the above video) that she thinks the world of James Cameron and would be part of Avatar even if it was simply on the sidelines. We don’t know much about how Michelle Yeoh fits into his upcoming movies, but she’s signed on to all four sequels and is reportedly playing Dr. Karina Mogue.

Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 have already been filmed and are expected to hit the big screen in 2022 and 2024 respectively. Once we’ve seen what James Cameron has going for the franchise (and how audiences respond to it nearly 15 years after the original), Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 will go into production ahead of their release dates in 2026 and 2028. Michelle Yeoh already made two movies with Cameron we’ve yet to see and based on her comments, it sounds like she’s hyped to keep working with him on more sequels. Check out the pair on set:

A photo posted by on

While we wait to be introduced to Michelle Yeoh’s role in Avatar 2 next year, the actress stars in action flick Gunpowder Milkshake alongside Karen Gillian, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino and Angela Bassett. The movie is about an assassin who teams up with her mother and her former sidekicks (Yeoh’s character is one of them) to save a nine-year-old girl.

Gunpowder Milkshake has been met with mixed reviews as it enters its first weekend at the box office. Avatar 2 is set to hit theaters on December 22, 2022.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.