James Cameron plans next film

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'Avatar' scheduled for summer 2008

Monday, July 10, 2006; Posted: 11:52 a.m. EDT (15:52 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Nine years after the launch of his last feature film, James Cameron is targeting a summer 2008 release for his next project, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar," and he hopes to start shooting a cast of unknown actors on a stage in Los Angeles by February.

Cameron is plotting a high-concept comeback film for his return to mainstream features, well in the wake of his king-making helming of 1997's "Titanic." His new project, which also has gone under the cover title "Project 880," follows a paraplegic war veteran who is brought to another planet inhabited by a humanoid race at odds with Earth's citizens.

"Believe it or not, the shooting is a very small part of it," Cameron says. "It's a very, very big project where the shooting is like a month and a half -- not really very much. There's just so much CG (computer-generated), and the visual effects are a huge component. A lot of it is performance capture. We use different techniques (from Sony Pictures' upcoming 'Monster House,' for example), but it's the same general idea."

Cameron takes pains to make a distinction between his use of performance capture versus the more popular motion-capture techniques that often heavily modify recorded gestures in postproduction.

"With performance capture, you're capturing exactly what the actor does and translating it to the CG character without the interpretation of animators," he says. "So it's not performance by committee, it's performance by the actor. I'm an absolute stickler about this, and I wanted to make a director-centric performance-capture process. We've spent literally since August of last year creating this and now we're ready to go."

Now that his next-generation production technologies have been hammered out, Cameron is focusing on auditioning actors.

"We're very active right now in terms of casting," Cameron says. "We're not looking at anyone, we're looking at everyone. There are a number of characters that we can cast from that up-and-coming talent pool. They're not going to be well-known names -- until after the movie, hopefully."

Cameron says he much prefers discovering new talent than relying on the known quantities of established stars.

"It's more of a thrill to find people who are just about ready to break and recognizing what they have and then moving them to the next level," the director says. "That's more exciting, I think, than just hitching my wagon to Tom Cruise or John Travolta or whatever. They're great guys, I know them, but it's not as interesting to me."

But Cameron doesn't shun celebrities, either.

"There are what, 10-15 bankable stars?" he says. "There are a lot more movies than that, and there have to be other ways to make movies. We may end up with stars in 'Avatar,' but it's not a requirement."

Cameron openly jokes about the digital HD 3-D digital camera rig he has been developing for six years with the help of Vince Pace.

"Vince and I have worked since 2000 developing this camera system," Cameron says. "And the irony is it was developed for me to use. And I've been going off and doing all these expeditions and doing expedition films in 3-D. We've really flogged the camera, made sure it works, upgraded it, re-engineered it, but now other people are using it, which is good, which I also like."

Four Cameron/Pace 3-D HD camera rigs are being used in production. Three are out on Eric Brevig's "Journey 3-D" for New Line Cinema in Vancouver and Giant Screen Films is using a rig in South Africa on the Imax feature "Ocean Frenzy." Next it will be Cameron's turn to put his own technology to use.

Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

I'm glad he's not going all out on finding stars for the movie. That just adds to the cost, and you don't really get any better performances (usually). People'll see it because it's a Cameron movie anyway.

Right... and sometimes, it's better to have people who aren't as well known.

I just hope it's not another bloated, ego-petting boner of a movie.

Titanic was the bane of my existance for a short period in the late 90's. I hate it so very, very much.

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I didn't like Titanic either. Go Cameron. Make me and HECK! a movie this time around.

Hells yeah. What happened to the guy that made The Terminator? Huh? WHERE IS HE?

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I want another terminator-like movie here. Although Gladiator was good, Terminator was a legend. I want that again.

Gladiator WOULD HAVE been good if Russell Crowe wasn't in it!!

Please not another Titantic... I don't want to have to sit through a damn 2 - 3 hour movie, with a puke bag in my lap. I won't have a choice, and have to go, because my girl will want to see it. *sigh*

Cameron didn't do Gladiator, it was Ridley Scott. And I think Crowe did badazz in that flick.

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I know that it wasn't Cameron... but, someone mentioned Gladiator, and I just got the willies, because of the disgust that I feel for Russell Crowe. I won't see a movie if he's in it.

Really? I don't mind him. You ever see L.A. Confidential? I freakin' love that movie. Because of it I'll see whatever Crowe is in.

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Nope... I HATE Russell, with a passion, and won't see his movies.

So, I pray that no one casts him, and Brad Pitt in the same movie, or I won't see it.

Do yourself a favor though, LA Confidential is a dope flick. Top shelf. Totally slick and Crowe has an American accent and this was before he got all big. The movie is just great.

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I'd agree with HECK on this, Lawless. To be honest, I've not enjoyed Crowe in most of his movies, but L.A. Confidential was a GREAT movie, and not because of Crowe. He did well in the movie, I'll admit, but it was more about the story and how it was told that hooked me. Kevin Spacey was in it too. So was Guy Pearce (the guy from Memento, another great flick). It was a great movie, and if you love movies, me and HECK think you might be doing yourself a disservice by boycotting it because of Crowe. You get more out of the movie than you lose by watching Crowe, trust us.

How about... "I will think about it?"

Ever since he did Titanic all he's done is IMAX deep sea/Titanic-related movies. While I admire him helping the IMAX format he needs to get back to his roots.

I liked True Lies, not bad for an action/comedy.

But in the mid to late 80's Cameron was the freakin' man. The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss? Dynamite flicks! He even wrote and produced them (except for The Abyss, I believe). Then T2 was cool... but after Titanic he started sniffing his own farts and hasn't done a lick of coolness in the better half of a decade.

It's like if Al Pacino started doing nothing but buddy cop films with a dog or Ben Stiller.

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He did great with The Abyss. I LOVE that flick, and will watch it whenever I see it on tv.

I liked True Lies. I thought that it was entertaining... not the best, but it was good.

Aliens and Terminator though, man, easily two of my favorite action movies of all time.

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Aliens and Terminator were great flicks... and to this day, I still get scared watching Aliens.

Three movies he's currently working on:


AVATAR: (2008)
Plot Outline: A love story set against interplanetary war.


THE DIVE: (2008)
Plot Outline: The true story of legendary free-divers and lovers, Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras and the late Audrey Mestre, who competed to travel as deeply as possible underwater on a single breath of air.


BATTLE ANGEL: (2009)
Set in the 26th century, the story takes place 300 years after a societal collapse caused by a major war. In that society, it's a technological dark age following a pinnacle of achievement far beyond where we are right now. Cyborg technology is a way of life. People are augmented a lot as workers, so being a cyborg is not unusual. The main character is a cyborg. She has an organic human brain, and she looks like she's about fourteen years old. She has a completely artificial body and she's lost her memory. She is found in a wreckage and reconstituted by a cyber-surgeon who becomes her surrogate father.

What's the deal with all this Russel Crowe hate? I seriously have no idea why some people dislike him so much... only negative thing I've heard about him is that he threw a phone at some dude, but he was only a bellhop, so he can't have been important. The loser certainly didn't deserve the millions he got from it.


Aliens and the Terminator movies rocked. True Lies is also awesome. It's what other action movies should strive to be.

Because he used to hit on, and seriously try to date YOUNG girls in Hollywood. It makes me sick. I know that age shouldn't make a difference. But, when you're in your 30's, or above, don't try to date girls that are like 16 and 17. It just really bothers me, and says a lot about his character. I don't like him... and when I see him in a movie, it's really ruined for me.

Ah, never heard that... they used to have that in the media a lot, did they?

Yeah, several years back... after he split with Meg Ryan. I just haven't liked him since.

A person's character can make them so ugly, that you just can't stand them, no matter what.

That's how I am. So, I hope that he isn't in James Cameron's movies, because I won't see 'em.

Well, like James Cameron says... he'll try not to use familiar faces.

That's often a good ploy too, because sometimes the hype around the actor can get too big for the movie... makes it of no interest to me more often than not.

Look at things like American Pie... none of the actors were particularly big at all, but that movie made a fortune. Basically because it was the Porkies of this generation, but that's beside the point...

As with most Hollywood gossip, unless I'm there or it's in a court document, I take it with a grain of poop. No one knows how these people really are, how they act inside their homes. Who knows/cares.

Hell, Mickey Mantle couldn't go to war because of his knee and fans booed him because the press said he didn't want to go.

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Well, it wasn't the press who said these things. It was the young girls, who were being interviewed, at different times, and stating the same things. Sorry... don't like the guy. Gives me the willies.