Avatar Creator James Cameron Addresses Other Filmmakers Directing Sequels

Filmmaker James Cameron is intrinsically linked with the world of Avatar, having been developing the narrative for decades and being the singular champion in bringing new installments to life, which means he has a hard time imagining not getting to be the person to direct all future films in the series. Despite his own passion for the franchise, he did recently admit that it might make more financial sense for the studio to have contingency plans in place in the case that Cameron is unable to work on those films, especially since the plan is for at least three more sequels, if not more. Avatar: The Way of Water will land in theaters on December 16th.

"In respect to the studio that's writing these massive checks to create this world, this persistent world, I think it's good for us to have at least some kind of a plan to hand that over," Cameron recalled to Collider about future filmmakers in the franchise. "I mean, nobody lives forever, and I might get sick, somebody in my family might get sick, I might have to step back. And I don't want that to be the case obviously, I want to do all five of them myself. I think it would be good to have some kind of a plan in place to be able to turn the reins over."

Cameron's skills as a filmmaker are arguably unmatched, as his 1997 Titanic became the top-grossing movie of all time, up until the release of Avatar then pushed the film from the top spot. Avatar held that title up until the release of 2019's Avengers: Endgame, only for a re-release of Avatar to push Endgame out of the top position as Cameron reclaimed his box-office supermacy.

With the first reactions to Avatar: The Way of Water praising its visual accomplishments, Cameron appears to still be unparalleled in that realm, though he did point out what he would need to see in a filmmaker for him to support them taking over the reins of a sequel.

"I think there are a lot of good filmmakers out there and a lot of good filmmakers that understand how to do CG and animation and world-building and all that sort of thing," the filmmaker expressed. "I think that what I would look for is somebody that is willing to be humble before the specific craft of how you make one of these films. Because it's taken us, at this point, 16 years to figure it out, and we're still learning day to day. So it would take time to transfer that knowledge."

Avatar: The Way of Water lands in theaters on December 16th.

Would you like to see another filmmaker direct an Avatar sequel? Let us know in the comments!