James Cameron Says Devoting 20 Years to AVATAR Has Been About Doing Good, Not Just Making Money
James Cameron has spent the better part of two decades living and working in the world of Avatar. In a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, the filmmaker explained that his commitment to Pandora has never been about chasing box office records, though the franchise has certainly shattered plenty. Instead, he sees it as a way to connect audiences to something bigger than themselves.
“I’ve justified making Avatar movies to myself for the last 20 years, not based on how much money we made, but on the basis that hopefully it can do some good,” Cameron said. “It can help connect us. It can help connect us to our lost aspect of ourself that connects with nature and respects nature and all those things.”
Cameron knows the films aren’t going to solve the world’s problems, but he believes they can make an impact in a subtle way.
“Do I think that movies are the answer to our human problems? No, I think they’re limited because people sometimes just want entertainment and they don’t want to be challenged in that way. I think Avatar is a Trojan horse strategy that gets you into a piece of entertainment, but then works on your brain and your heart a little bit in a way.”
The original Avatar from 2009 remains the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.9 billion worldwide. Its 2022 follow-up, Avatar: The Way of Water, sits at number three on the all-time list with $2.3 billion. Despite that massive success, Cameron says the real victory is in the message.
While he is developing other projects like The Devils and Ghosts of Hiroshima, Cameron isn’t leaving Pandora anytime soon. He’s currently in post-production on Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the series, which hits theaters December 19. He’s also eyeing Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, and says he feels strong enough to direct them himself.
“There’s no reason not to. I’m healthy, I’m good to go. I’m not going to rule it out. I mean, I’ve got to make it in a vigorous way, to handle the kind of volume and energy of the work for another six or seven years. You know what I mean? I might not be able to do that… [but] if I can, I’ll just do it.”
It’s been 28 years since Cameron last made a non-Avatar film with 1997’s Titanic. That choice has been divisive among fans who wish to see him branch out, but Cameron has a different view.
In 2022, he said: “Avatar is so sprawling that I can tell most of the stories I want to tell within it and try many of the stylistic techniques that I hope to explore.”
And for those who wonder why he hasn’t moved on, Cameron offers a comparison. “People are always asking us, ‘So why did you just keep working in the same…’ Why did [George] Lucas keep working in the same thing? Why did [Gene] Roddenberry keep working in the same thing? Because when you connect with people, why would you squander that? Why would you start over with something else that might not connect?”
For Cameron, the world of Avatar is a canvas big enough to tell the stories he cares about, and, hopefully, to do some good along the way.