James Cameron is a busy man at the moment, with the filmmaker currently in the middle of his ambition plan to shoot FOUR sequels to 2009’s sci-fi blockbuster Avatar. Nevertheless, he managed to take some time out of his schedule to speak to IGN about his new TV show Visionaries: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, during which he also provided an update on said Avatar sequels.
“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,” said Cameron. “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. You’ve got to try stuff. The least safe thing you can do is try to be safe.”
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Cameron also went on to reflect on what he learned during the first movie: “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. And so I’m hopefully doing that in spades with the new films. I’ve got an incredible cast. I’m always very cognisant 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.”
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Avatar 2 will open on December 18th 2020, followed by Avatar 3 on December 17th 2021, Avatar 4 on December 20th 2024 and Avatar 5 on December 19th 2025. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Matt Gerald, Dileep Rao, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver, while new additions to the cast include Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Filip Geljo, Jamie Flatters, Bailey Bass, Trinity Bliss, Jack Champion, and Duane Evans Jr.
Originally published January 28, 2018. Updated April 16, 2018.
