Avatar filmmaker James Cameron has provided an update on his long-awaited Avatar sequels, saying he "can't afford for it not to work" because he's working with such a massive budget.

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"It doesn't matter how much you dress it up with great production design and great visual effects. If the story is not working, if you don't connect to the characters, it's just simply not going to work," Cameron said at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour for his new AMC show Visionaries: James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction."Of course, we can't afford for it not to work, the budget level that we are dealing with. But, of course, you always have to give yourself permission as an artist to fail no matter what the stakes are," he added. "You've got to try stuff. The least safe thing you can do is try to be safe."Cameron also discussed a major takeaway from the first Avatar movie and how it's influencing his approach to the sequels. "I think that the lesson for me from the first film that I've applied to the new films is that the more fantastic the imagery, the more otherworldly and the more you are pushing out to the edge of what's possible in terms of bringing imaginative imagery to the screen, the more it has to be grounded in relationship and in truth and in heart," he explained. "And so I'm hopefully doing that in spades with the new films."He also expressed confidence in the cast, which features a number of new additions for the sequels , including Titanic's Kate Winslet . "I've got an incredible cast," he said. "I'm always very cognizant of the casting. I've worked very hard to cast this, to find some new, young actors coming up that have incredible heart and that are just amazing."The Avatar sequels began filming in September of last year, with Avatar 2 set to open in theaters on December 18, 2020 . Avatar 3 will be released on December 17, 2021, which will be followed by Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 on December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025, respectively.For more on Avatar, find out what Cameron had to say about how Disney's purchase of Fox could affect the franchise

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn