James Cameron Update!!

Hey guys - time to check in and see what James Cameron has been up to lately - other than furiously preparing for shooting AVATAR 2 and 3 back to back that is...

Cameron has spoken out a couple of times recently and made some waves - probably of most importance is that AVATAR 2 may have elements of a prequel involved! Yes you read that right - it also simultaneously explains why Sigourney Weaver makes a return to the franchise.

Of course this could all be make up over the real story but until I hear from my sources to the contrary, it looks fairly solid as it came from the man himself (at Popular Mechanics Award Ceremonies):

Sigourney is giving you the award tonight, and she’s supposed to be in Avatar 2, despite her character dying in the first Avatar.
Did I say she was going to be in Avatar 2? [Grins.]

She said she was.
Well, I don’t want to disabuse her of that fantasy. But have you ever heard of nonlinear storytelling? A lot happens on that planet before she shows up, and before Jake shows up to join her. She’s there for fifteen years ahead of time. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. And I’ve already said way too much about Avatar 2 and 3 here and there, but people piece it together like those voice cameos and tell the whole story!

Okay, I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t like what they did to Ripley when she died.
Okay, here’s the deal. When you have a science-fiction series, a science-fiction franchise, you’re never dead, unless your DNA is expunged from the universe. And then there’s always time travel!

Cameron also dishes on Disney's new AVATARLAND:

You’re also working on Avatar at Disney World. What’s going to happen there? What would you like to see?
We’re going to meet and discuss it. They have big plans for it. They want to do a land, a number of different attractions, maybe a flight attraction, and retail outlets, things like that, make a whole environment of it, a themed experience. You would feel like you’re on Pandora. So I think my job and what I look forward to doing is making sure it’s consistent with Na’vi culture, with the themes and values of Avatar, and the next films as well. And they seem very open to that.

Are you going to be full force in Avatar world for the foreseeable future, or will you still be able to dabble here and there on other projects?
Not for the next five years! My next film, films are Avatar 2 and 3.
Further, Cameron antes in on the so-called "anti-3d backlash":

It seems like with every blockbuster 3D movie, the reports are that more and more people are opting for the 2D version. This happened with 'Pirates 4.' After the good will of 'Avatar,' how do you win back an audience that feels tricked?
I don't think that's the case at all. I don't think the audience feels tricked, I think the audience occasionally feels like they're not getting their money's worth when they go to see a film where they're paying for a premium ticket price and it's sort of sloppily converted to 3D and it's not delivering. And that usually happens because the studio imposes 3D on the filmmaker and the filmmaker says, "Look I'm making the movie, you all do with it what you want." Which is really a bad attitude because if you're not shooting for 3D, it's not going to look as good. So I'm not in favor of conversion. I think that's potentially a way to do minor damage to the marketplace.

So is there a backlash?
I think this whole story is trumped up by the media. You know, they built it up, it's this fantastic new thing, and now we're going to tear it down.

You seem frustrated by this. Are you frustrated by this story?
No, no. I'm not frustrated at all. I think it's a natural course of the evolution of any new thing. But I think people need to understand and remember: 3D revenues for movies have grown 40 percent a year, year over year, for three years. And are projected to do that next year. This business is not going away. You're not going to put that toothpaste back in the tube. We've gone from one percent of the market four years ago to 21 percent of movie revenues now. So, I think it's being very broadly accepted on a global basis -- much more so internationally than domestically. So, 3D is going to be with us forever. The question is: When does it reach the same levels of broadcast? We've got about 110 camera systems right now that are out all of the time -- the trucks are out all of the time. We've done 160 sporting events and it goes up 20 of new ones every couple of months. So that's now starting to explode.

You mentioned that you're not in favor of conversion, but you are converting 'Titanic.' Was that process more difficult than you expected? Are you happy with the results?
I expected it to be really hard to get high quality results. And that proved to be accurate. Including the mastering of the film and the 3D conversion, we're spending 18 million dollars in one year -- and it will barely be done in time, in February -- to do it up to a standard equal to having shot it in 3D. Which, of course, would have been my first choice. Short of having a time machine available, I don't know a way to do that.

Will we see other films from the James Cameron catalog converted?
We are exploring a new market here for classic library titles that are much beloved films that may or may not have a new life in the theatrical marketplace. We're just going to have to see. I mean, do the numbers support the idea of a 'Terminator 2' or 'Aliens'? I don't know, those would be cool movies to convert. But I don't know -- we have to see how much we make off of 'Titanic.'

So a nice little update from an obviously very busy man! Stay tuned for more...

Sources: Vulture | Moviefone