James Cameron has revealed what still interests him outside the Avatar universe, explaining what he’s been up to outside the sci-fi franchise. Cameron’s film focus has been on the Avatar movies, with the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash due in theaters on December 19, 2025. He has two more installments planned as well, arriving in 2029 and 2031.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan for Avatar: Fire and Ash, though, Cameron detailed what else he’s been interested in beyond the Avatar franchise. The filmmaker explains his dedication for deep sea exploration and fighting for the rights of indigenous people. He’s also been spending lots of time working on agricultural sustainability and spending time with his family:
Well, deep sea exploration for one. Anything around protecting and empowering indigenous communities because that comes post Avatar, but [before] doing the sequels. And I spent 10 years out there in the field and through granting processes and so on trying to work with indigenous communities.
A lot of sustainability work around agriculture. Sounds boring, right? Except everybody’s got to eat. 8 billion people got to eat. And agriculture is one of the single biggest things that’s degrading our natural world. So we have to solve some problems there before we can talk about the lungs of the planet, the rainforest and all that. We’ve got to solve agriculture. And then diet has a big part to do with that. So there’s a lot of things that occupy me outside of the day job, but when we get to this point about an Avatar film where I’ve been screaming for home plate for the last few months to get this thing done and made as beautiful as we can make it, I can’t think of anything else right now.
Oh, and by the way, there’s this little thing I like to call family and having five kids, having been happily married for 25 years. And so that’s a whole set of mental and emotional processes and obviously I’m working some of that stuff out through these films through The Way of Water and Fire and Ash.
Cameron has been involved in deep sea exploration for a good chunk of his career. He serves as a National Geographic explorer-in-residence and, in 2012, became the first person to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench on a solo mission. In addition, he’s produced several documentaries about the subject, including one about the RMS Titanic titled Ghosts of the Abyss.
His work with indigenous communities arrived following his work on the first Avatar movie, while his statement also emphasizes just how much work he’s been doing around agriculture. His passion for both subjects directly ties into his work on the film franchise, which touch on environmental and cultural themes. These further emphasize his passion for the work he does.
The same goes for his discussion of his family, with Avatar: The Way of Water establishing how much family connections matter in the franchise. While Jake Sully had been the core focus of the first film, the second installment showcased what he and Neytiri’s kids would do to alter their dynamic. It also explores how the world changes them.
Given the numerous interests he has outside of making more Avatar movies, Cameron has plenty of real-world experiences to pull from when crafting the remaining movies in the franchise. His deep sea exploration knowledge aided in the creation of underwater filming technology, some of which was used for the motion capture in Avatar: The Way of Water.
With the third installment of the franchise fast approaching, Cameron’s other interests emphasize how the Avatar movies are just one of many projects he’s juggling at the same time. His busy schedule emphasizes the passion he holds for numerous subjects, many of which tie into how he portrays the Na’vi and the Sully family in his sci-fi franchise.
- Release Date
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December 15, 2009
- Runtime
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162 minutes
