Avatar Director James Cameron Reveals His “Guilty Pleasure” Movie and It’s Pretty Surprising

Though they’re nearly on their way to returning to production, filming on James Cameron‘s Avatar sequels hit another snag when they were shut down due to the spread of the coronavirus. The Oscar winner previously said he’s confident that despite the delay in production that the films will still be able to make their planned release date, with the first planned for December of next year. Cameron isn’t spending his newfound freetime by doing nothing though, revealing in a new interview that he’s been doing what a lot of us have been doing…watching movies, but if you can guess what movie he’s spent a lot of time watching you should go buy a lottery ticket.

“One of my guilty-pleasure films that I actually think is quite beautifully made is Resident Evil,” Cameron told Empire, specifically mentioning one of his Avatar cast members as why enjoys the movie. “Watching Michelle Rodriguez in that film, moving like this feral creature, is joyful.”

Cameron went on to talk about spending time with his family while production of the films were on hiatus, noting that he’s trying to broaden his children’s taste in movies by showing them some classic films.

“I’m trying to organise these family movie nights – I’ve got my kids at home and their taste is so different than mine,” the director added. “But I try to expand their horizon a little bit. They got a hankering for a Western the other night and I said, ‘What about True Grit with John Wayne?’ They said, ‘Who?’ I said, ‘Alright, we’re watching True Grit.’ They absolutely loved it. My teenage girls are very horse-oriented, and now they know who John Wayne is.”

Cameron will likely have even more time to show his kids some of his favorite movies as the current social distancing guidelines in New Zealand keep the production for the Avatar sequels on hold.

“It’s putting a major crimp in our stride here,” Cameron added. “I want to get back to work on Avatar, which right now we’re not allowed to do under state emergency laws or rules. So it’s all on hold right now… We were about to shoot down in New Zealand, so that got pushed. We’re trying to get back to it as quick as we can.”

Avatar 2 will see the return of Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, and Matt Gerald. New cast members include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, David Thewlis, Vin Diesel, and CJ Jones.

Four sequels to the 2009 feature film are in the works with Avatar 2 set to be released in theaters on December 17, 2021. If all goes according to plan, Avatar 3 will be released on December 22, 2023, Avatar 4 will be released on December 19, 2025, and Avatar 5 will be released on December 17, 2027.