James Cameron Has Plans to Expand the World of "Avatar" Via Animation, Has Already Pitched Ideas to Disney
The filmmaker's live-action sequel "Avatar: Fire and Ash" will arrive in theaters this winter.
Acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker James Cameron has even bigger plans for his Avatar franchise, the third installment of which arrives in theaters later this year. Next, he wants to take Pandora into the world of animation.
What’s happening:
- In an interview with Empire magazine, filmmaker James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator, Titanic) has said that he wants to expand the Avatar franchise into animation.
- Cameron also mentioned that he has already met with representatives from The Walt Disney Company, which purchased the holdings of 21st Century Fox in 2019, about the possibilities.
- Other live-action franchises that have expanded into animation are Predator, Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What they’re saying:
- James Cameron (via Empire): “I said, ‘Look, I want to do an animated anthology series that’s essentially in the world but stories that you wouldn’t have expected from that world.’ There might even be an animated feature in there — it might be a feature for streaming, or a theatrical feature."
- “A good early example is The Animatrix, where they went afield in the Matrix world. These are all great examples for how we can add texture and baroque detail to the world of Avatar. [The animated stories could deliver] backstory on characters and tangential stuff that happened off-camera within the movies. Who first landed on Pandora? The first expedition. You could go anywhere you want."
- “We haven’t done much with that yet. We’re still gathering our stories and that sort of thing. I’ve got to find the boutique filmmakers, the animators, that want to do it."
More Avatar News:
- The trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash was released yesterday online after debuting with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
- Avatar: The Way of Water composer Simon Franglen will provide the score for Disneyland Resort’s Avatar-themed area.
- Actress Zoe Saldaña thinks Fire and Ash will be the most compelling of all three Avatar films so far.