James Cameron's Next Movie After Avatar 3 Isn’t What You Think
Don’t panic, Av-heads.
From his innovative filmmaking techniques in Titanic to his real-life sea exploration, James Cameron has always been focused on the future. In recent years, he’s kept this momentum going by setting lofty goals for his Avatar franchise, which began in 2009, has a third installment coming this year, and has additional movies scheduled for 2029 and 2031.
Filming has already started for Avatar 4, although there’s a six-year time jump during the first act. While Cameron waits for his young actors to grow up, he’s picked up a new project that may premiere before Avatar 4 can even resume production. While this new movie is an exciting fantasy adaptation, Cameron’s involvement is different from what you might think.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Cameron will write the script for an adaptation of Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils, a tongue-in-cheek fantasy epic set in a world full of magic and flesh-eating elves. It’s a little different than Cameron’s usual sci-fi fare, although Avatar’s Pandora setting is so different from our own that it often resembles fantasy as much as sci-fi.
Joe Abercrombie will co-write the adaptation of his novel with James Cameron.
This won’t, however, be a significant divergence from Cameron’s filmography. He won’t be directing the movie, which doesn’t have a director attached yet. Abercrombie is also contributing to the script, and he’s no stranger to screenwriting either, as he’s written for Netflix and contributed to the recent Borderlands movie, the latter of which we’ll try not to hold against him. Hopefully, collaborating with a world-class filmmaker like Cameron will make The Devils more successful.
James Cameron may be best known for his directing work, but his screenwriting shouldn’t be discounted. He’s written the majority of his own movies, and co-writing a script without directing is actually a common move for him. Rambo: First Blood Part II was co-written with Sylvester Stallone, Strange Days with Jay Cocks, and Alita: Battle Angel with Laeta Kalogridis. So while Cameron’s next few years may be full of spaceships and Na’vi, he’ll tide us over until 2029 with a quick break involving magic and elves. Presumably, he’ll still find a way to add in an underwater exploration scene.
