James Cameron pretty much has an opinion on everything. It doesn’t really matter if anyone asks him for it or not – he’ll still give you a piece of his mind. After sinking a massive boat that singlehandedly reinvented the blockbuster genre, and then preaching the artistry of 3D, Cameron might perhaps have reason to be a wee bit cocky. You have to admit, the guy does some pretty amazing things with available technology.
This week, at Mexico City’s technology forum TagDF, Cameron decided to give voice to everything from Man Of Steel to what his project following the Avatar trilogy will be.
First up: the post-Avatar project.
We all know that James Cameron plans on making the initially one-off 3D extravaganza Avatar into a trilogy, cleverly titled Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. This entails a return to that shiny planet of Pandora, populated by big blue cat thingies. But Cameron does not intend to rely solely on the impressive technology of the first film – he wants to focus on expanding the story and the characters. As one of the main criticisms of Avatar was its rather thin storyline – South Park referred to it as Dances With Smurfs – that’s a welcome plan from Mr. Cameron.
Following Avatar 3, Cameron plans to begin working on his oft-rumored Battle Angel sometime in 2017. According to IMDb, Battle Angel is about a female cyborg rescued from a scrap heap by a scientist who recognizes her potential as a savior. It’s based on the graphic novels of Yukito Kishiro.
Cameron moves on to talk about how he helped Alfonso Cuaron complete Gravity. Although he didn’t give too many details on this, Cameron apparently helped Cuaron with the ending, which had a problem in terms of storytelling.
Finally, last but not least, James Cameron has a word or two to say about the current use of 3D in Hollywood. He’s not a fan, particularly of post-conversion. Conversions, he points out, do not contain the same visual depth of a film initially shot in 3D – directors need to be comfortable using the technology, but studios are pushing them into it. Thank you, Jim, for voicing what we’ve all been thinking.
So that’s all the James Cameron that’s fit to print at this time. We can expect to see the next Avatar within the next few years, though in all honesty, Battle Angel sounds more interesting to me right now.
Oh, and we’ll know if Cameron’s advice helped Gravity at all when it premieres in Venice next month.
