Avatar Soundtrack: Composers, Songs and Albums

Two composers have scored the Avatar films: James Horner wrote the music for Avatar (2009), and Simon Franglen scored both Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash. All three films were directed by James Cameron, so the change of composer is the main thing separating the sound of the original from its sequels.

James Horner scored Avatar (2009), and the score was released on the album "Avatar: Music From the Motion Picture" through Atlantic on December 11, 2009, with 14 tracks. The cues people search for most are "Jake Enters His Avatar World", "Pure Spirits of the Forest", "The Bioluminescence of the Night" and "Jake's First Flight", which follow Jake Sully's arrival on Pandora and his first days with Neytiri. The darker end of the album includes "Scorched Earth", "Quaritch" and "The Destruction of Hometree".

Simon Franglen took over for Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Its album, "Avatar: The Way of Water: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", came from Hollywood Records on December 15, 2022, and runs to 22 tracks. The best-known cues by title are "Into the Water", "Happiness Is Simple", "Family Is Our Fortress", "Hometree", "The Way of Water" and "Payakan". Franglen is reported to reuse themes that Horner wrote for the first film, which gives the sequels a thread back to the original rather than a clean break.

Franglen also scored Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). Its album, "Avatar: Fire and Ash", was released by Hollywood Records on December 5, 2025, and is the longest of the three at 37 tracks. Cues to look for include "Brothers", "Mourning", "The Windtraders", "Caravan at Night", "Mangkwan Attack", "Forest Chase" and "Miracle".

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an unrelated series with its own music, and none of these composers or albums belong to it. The next film, Avatar 4, is dated for December 21, 2029 on Disney's schedule, a date that is reported rather than confirmed. For the people behind each film, see the Avatar cast and crew.

The signature songs of the Avatar films are "I See You (Theme from Avatar)" by Leona Lewis, "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" by The Weeknd, "The Songcord" by Zoe Saldaña, and "Dream as One" by Miley Cyrus. Each is marked as an original song, one for each film, with a second for the middle chapter. Miley Cyrus did make music for Avatar: her song belongs to the third film, Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).

Avatar (2009). The film's song is "I See You (Theme from Avatar)", performed by Leona Lewis. It plays over the closing credits, after the story has ended, so the audience hears it only once James Horner's score has finished its work inside the film. It was written for the film.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). There are two songs here. "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" is performed by The Weeknd and plays over the end credits. "The Songcord" is credited to Zoe Saldaña, who plays Neytiri, so one of the lead cast is also a named performer on the soundtrack. Both were written for the film, and the sheet gives no scene for "The Songcord", so where it sits in the story is not stated.

Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). The song is "Dream as One", performed by Miley Cyrus and written with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. According to TheWrap, it was released on November 14, 2025 and plays over the end credits. It was written for the film. The score album opens with a track of the same name, which is a useful clue for anyone searching the album for the song.

It could be argued that the pattern is deliberate: each film pairs a large orchestral score with a pop name for the credits and the marketing. Horner and Simon Franglen carry the story inside the film, while the featured artists carry the title outside it. That reading is my opinion rather than anything the filmmakers have stated, but all three releases line up with it. If you want to hear these songs in context, the streaming options are covered on where to watch avatar.

Our picks: the best songs in the Avatar films (opinion)

This is my own ranking, and it mixes the credit songs with a few score tracks, because the themes people hum afterward are not always the singles.

1. "I See You (Theme from Avatar)": the one that defined how the series closes a film, with a voice taking over from the orchestra once the story is done.
2. "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)": the best fit for the second film's focus on family, and the title alone states the sequel's theme.
3. "Dream as One": the most interesting placement, since the same title also opens the Fire and Ash score album, so the song and the score feel like one idea.
4. "Jake's First Flight": a score track from Horner's album, and the title points to the moment the first film turns from a military story into a wonder story.
5. "The Destruction of Hometree": the darkest cue from the first score, and I would argue the most dramatic piece of music in the series so far.
6. "The Songcord": the most unusual entry, because a lead actor performs it, which is rare for a film of this size.