Oscar-winning director James Cameron made a name for himself in his heyday with a variety of unique titles. Film fans have been somewhat disappointed in recent years, though, that the creator of the Terminator franchise and director of True Lies, Aliens, and Titanic has only made three movies in the past 28 years, and all three of those have been from his Avatar franchise (despite all three being billion-dollar movies). The good news, though, is that after spending more than a decade on Pandora, Cameron already has multiple projects in the works that could see him bring new projects to life, one of them a wild new fantasy adaptation.
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Ahead of the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, which seems to be the last film in the series for a few years (a fourth film is penciled in for a December 2029 release, with Avatar 5 scheduled for December 2031), Cameron has become attached to two book adaptations: Ghosts of Hiroshima, a historical book about Tsutomu Yamaguchi who survived both of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and The Devils, a fantasy novel by Joe Abercrombie. Though the latter seems like the perfect next franchise for Cameron to bring to life, there’s a big problem already forming.
The Devils Movie Could Be Great, But What Will James Cameron’s Role Be?
Abercrombie’s book tells the story of an alternate version of our own world, one filled with fantastical creatures and funny twists of history. When Brother Diaz is given an extreme task, he has to enlist the help of a wayward collection of mercenaries, magicians, and monsters to help him tackle it. The story is a massive one, and distinct from anything else in Cameron’s filmography, something with a big canvas that could easily kickstart a new franchise
This June, right after the publication of Abercrombie’s book, Cameron confirmed on his Facebook page that he had purchased the film rights to The Devils and was set to adapt it for the big screen alongside the author for his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. At this time, that’s the extent of Cameron’s involvement in the project, as it remains unclear if he’ll actually direct the project, though the filmmaker has made it clear he will be writing it after Avatar: Fire and Ash. It’s not unheard of for a Cameron passion project to be developed by the director only for another filmmaker to take it on (EG: Alita: Battle Angel), but it does present a unique problem.
If Cameron doesn’t direct The Devils adaptation, it could very well end up being an adaptation that doesn’t quite work. Cameron has proven time and time again that he’s one of the best directors of all time, meaning there would be no worry about such an expansive and rich story being told on the big screen if he were the man behind the camera. But if another was given the task, it might see the hype for this one go into freefall if it fails to meet expectations.
There’s also the potential that Cameron decides to direct the adaptation of The Devils, which presents an entirely new problem for fans: when exactly would he do that? In theory, Cameron could direct The Devils between Avatar: Fire and Ash and the upcoming fourth film, but given the extensive timeline that Cameron takes in bringing his projects to life, and the frequent delays that often plague them, it’s possible he wouldn’t have time. On the flipside, if Cameron decides to direct The Devils and has to wait until after he’s finished with Avatar 5, the movie wouldn’t enter production until 2032 at the earliest, seven years from now.
Fans will no doubt be ready for The Devils whenever it arrives, though the hope that James Cameron also directs this fantasy epic is something we can all hope for. Hopefully, this one sees the light of day sooner rather than later, and doesn’t find itself a new entry on the Wikipedia page “James Cameron’s unrealized projects.”
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