The visionary who put together the Avatar franchise, James Cameron, has been reflecting on the many movies he hasn't been able to make because of his dedication to Avatar. The sci-fi action franchise follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) as he encounters the alien Na'vi on the planet Pandora and quickly turns against the military officials who seek to strip Pandora of its resources, despite the underlying risk to the Na'vi. Sully joins the native people and eventually builds a family of his own while living on an alien world. James Cameron directed, wrote, produced, and edited Avatar and has been heavily involved in Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming sequels in the same positions.

Though the recent release of Avatar: The Way of Water earned over $1 billion in the box office in just 12 days, the story of Jake Sully and his family hasn't been enough to fully satisfy Cameron's creative interests. After coming into prominence with his work on Titanic, Terminator, and Aliens, Cameron has spent years giving the majority of his attention to the Avatar franchise. Yet, in an interview with Empire, Cameron revealed that he still regrets the movies he was unable to make because of his involvement with Avatar. Check out his quote below:

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.
What Strange Days And Alita: Battle Angel Could Have Looked Like Under Cameron


Unfortunately for Cameron, his busy schedule meant that he had to hand major projects to other directors. While Strange Day released long before Avatar, Kathryn Bigelow took control of the project after Cameron was unable to do more than write the screenplay. The film was a somewhat surreal exploration of a cyberpunk world in the last days of 1999 and quickly became a box office flop. Bigelow is known for political thrillers, such as Zero Dark Thirty and Detroit, and her style was a major influence on Strange Days. A Cameron-led Strange Days might have focused more on spectacle than the character-focused project that cared less for a logical plot progression than it did for characterization. Since Cameron also relies on love stories, the relationship between Lenny and Mace might have also been made stronger.

As for Alita: Battle Angel, Cameron was a producer on the project and helped to write the script but handed directing responsibility to Robert Rodriguez, who is best known for his work on Spy Kids, Machete, and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Having made the leap from creating indie films, Rodriguez had to adjust his style to suit a Cameron movie, which involved some growing pains. Under an experienced director like Cameron, the story may not have felt quite as rushed as it did, and Cameron may also have been able to juggle the packed storyline much more smoothly than Rodriguez was able to. There have been talks of a Alita: Battle Angel sequel for years, which may give Rodriguez and Cameron another chance to make the project work a little better.

What's Next For James Cameron?


Though Cameron may still be mourning all the projects he wasn't able to make because of the Avatar franchise, he will still be sticking with Avatar. With Avatar 3, 4 and 5 on the way, Cameron's schedule is going to be filled until the release of Avatar 5 in 2028, should the latter two sequels get the official greenlight from Disney. After, Cameron has teased plans for an Avatar 6 and 7. Once he's finished with Avatar, it's likely that he will nearly be finished making films all together, as Cameron wants to retire after 5-6 more movies, which Avatar alone will fill. Considering that he is also serving as an executive producer for the upcoming True Lies TV reboot, he won't have much time left for other personal projects, so Avatar will likely be his final franchise.