James Cameron Really Wanted To Bring Bill Paxton Into The AVATAR Movies

James Cameron has been laboring away on the follow-up sequels to his Avatar movie for years, and recently the writer/director opened up about his regret that he wasn't able to include the late Bill Paxton into his new franchise. In a recent interview with EW Cameron explained:

"Of course recently, I was staring down the barrel of four more Avatarfilms and I was thinking of a good place, a good fit for Bill. Then, of course, he died unexpectedly before I made a presentation to him. That denied us that next chance to work together. I would have loved to have continued working with Bill and I'm sure he felt the same way."

In a lot of ways, Paxton was arguably one of Cameron's go-to actors, as he appears in some of his best movies. They first worked together in the very first entry in The Terminator franchise and carried it all the way through to iconic films like True Lies and Titanic. 

Cameron also told EW that he couldn't remember why Paxton wasn't included in the original movie, but that there was definitely a reason for his absence:

"I don't remember what happened there. I don't think there was a part that fit him well. Otherwise, I would have loved to have him involved."

The next chapter in the Pandora-based series is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2020.

What is your favorite Paxton/Cameron collaboration?