James Cameron mourns the movies he can’t make because he’s busy with Avatar sequels

Empire magazine recently posted an article in which James Cameron answered questions that were submitted by others who work in the entertainment industry – Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, Robert Rodriguez, Harrison Ford, the Duffer Brothers, Carrie Henn, Sam Mendes, etc. And while answering a question sent in by RRR director S. S. Rajamouli, Cameron admitted that he mourns the projects he won’t be able to bring to the screen because he’s too busy working on the Avatar franchise.

Rajamouli asked, “You have spent about 25 years in the world of Avatar (going back to when the script for Avatar was first written)… I am sure you will have many more stories/ideas that you want to tell. Do you ever feel bad, that you are not able to tell them?“

Cameron answered, “Hi, S.S. Two thoughts in answer to your question: the first is that the world of Avatar is so sprawling that I can tell most of the stories I want to tell within it and try many of the stylistic techniques that I hope to explore. And secondly, yes… our time as artists is finite. I will always mourn some of the stories that I don’t get to make. But I feel a great satisfaction when other directors want to explore some of my ideas, like Kathryn Bigelow did with Strange Days, and Robert Rodriguez did when I passed him the baton on Alita: Battle Angel. I look forward to more collaborations in the future with directors I admire.“

I haven’t gotten around to watching Alita: Battle Angel yet (I do intend to one of these days), but I thought Strange Days was great. So I would be very glad to see other directors pick up Cameron’s non-Avatar stories and bring them to the screen while he remains focused on the Na’vi.

Would you like to see other directors explore Cameron’s ideas while he makes Avatar movies? Share your thoughts on this by leaving a comment below.

Arriving thirteen years after the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water is now in theatres – and has already earned a billion dollars at the box office. Avatar 3 is already guaranteed to reach theatres on December 20, 2024. And if these films are profitable enough, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 will be out on December 18, 2026 and December 22, 2028, respectively. Beyond that, Cameron has said he has ideas for Avatar 6 and 7 as well.