20th Century StudiosJames Cameron’s Avatar movies have cemented themselves as cinematic events, milestone movies that push the limits of visual effects and immersive worldbuilding. However, they’ve also started to push the limits of audiences’ bladders. 2009’s Avatar kicked things off by clocking in at 2 hours and 42 minutes, the same runtime as The Godfather Part III, The English Patient, and Stalker. Avatar: The Way of Water, bolstered by Avatar’s popularity, then swelled to a butt-numbing 3 hours and 12 minutes, about the same length as Gandhi, The Right Stuff, and, coincidentally, James Cameron’s Titanic. Thankfully, Avatar: Fire and Ash is going to land in the middle, although it could have been a little shorter if not for an anticipated scene that Cameron insisted on including.Avatar: Fire and Ash will bring back the Toruk that Jake rode in the first movie. | 20th Century StudiosIn an interview with Variety, Cameron revealed that the runtime for Avatar: Fire and Ash is more than three hours. “We’re at three hours, big surprise!” he said, poking fun at his reputation. This came up in a conversation about how he’s learned to trust his creative instincts, allowing himself to indulge certain choices even if it means a longer runtime. Cameron mentioned the Toruk, the bird-like creature that appeared heavily in the first Avatar movie and popped up again in the Fire and Ash trailer. “It didn’t exist in Fire and Ash,” Cameron said. “And I went, ‘Oh, he’s got to go get the bird.’ There’s something in Jake’s destiny that requires it, right?”Given the unusual level of creative control that Cameron enjoys, adding in the Toruk was a relatively simple process. “I just re-wrote it, and we went back and we shot two or three scenes around that concept, and I threw some stuff out and stuck that in,” he said.James Cameron will inflate a runtime if he thinks it’s justified, so prepare your body and mind. | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesSo while Avatar: Fire and Ash may be longer than Avengers: Endgame, Cameron has earned the trust of his audiences. If you pull up the Fire and Ash trailer on YouTube, the comments are full of people excited that their favorite leonopteryx is back in action. Clearly, this is a tradeoff that’s more than worth a well-timed bathroom break.Long runtimes may be trending in Hollywood — Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2-hour 50-minute thriller One Battle After Another is currently topping the box office, and it earns every minute — but at least Avatar is indulging for a good reason, not just because the story bit off more than it can chew. Avatar: Fire and Ash premieres in theaters on December 19, 2025.