Just when James Cameron stepped off the Titanic, he made a detour to Pandora for the Avatar movies (which can be streamed on your Disney+ subscription) and hasn’t left. That makes a lot of sense since critics and audiences both love the big-budget franchise. With Cameron’s ambitious plan to continue filming Avatar sequels, he explained how he’s “justified making Avatar movies” for the past two decades.
One of the many reasons why we should praise James Cameron is his courage to push boundaries in his movies. Whether it was trusting that Titanic’s going over budget would pay off or creating dazzling underwater technology for Avatar 2, the Canadian filmmaker told Rolling Stone the importance of actively taking on challenges. When asked by the publication if the Aliens director pours this personal philosophy into his work, this was his honest answer about how he’s “justified” his two-decade dedication to the Avatar movies:
I think so. Look, I mean, 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, 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.
James Cameron may not be “the king of the world,” but he’s certainly the king of the box office because of his Avatar movies. The Terminator filmmaker has directed three of the highest-grossing movies of all time, with the first Avatar being number one and its sequel at number three.
However, James Cameron makes a great point that the Avatar films provide brilliant symbolism towards respecting the natural order of a planet and the negative consequences of greed and exploitation. With the two movies released so far exploring the concept of invaders taking over foreign territory, it’s a powerful message to follow Jake Sully’s path to blend in with the environment instead of trying to dominate it.
It’s clear that Avatar is a true passion project for James Cameron with his two decade-long dedication to the franchise. The Oscar winner continued to get real on why he needs to continue staying on Pandora:
So 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 Avatar movies really are the perfect blend of entertainment and making audiences think about the bigger picture. Not only can fans take a glimpse at a cool, new world on the big screen, but they can also protect the planet they’re currently on in real life.
This wouldn’t be the first time that James Cameron has thought about how much Avatar has taken over his career. In terms of whether he’d direct movies 4 and 5 in his 70s, The Abyss director said he’d be game if his health was in good shape.
At the same time, James Cameron has also said he’s ready to let go of the sci-fi franchise and focus on other projects, like adapting the books The Devils and The Ghosts of Hiroshima. With all of the passion and creativity that Cameron has brought to his movies, I’m confident that his filmmaking days are far from over.
James Cameron’s Avatar movies may have been the filmmaker’s focus for the past two decades, but he’s delivering stories that audiences have not only proven to want, but need in their lives, where they'll be both entertained and intrigued. The 2025 movie release of Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19th.
