James Cameron “Goes to Pandora” to Write 2nd and 3rd Avatar Scripts

James Cameron gave an interview to Fox about the two new Avatar scripts he’s writing and how they are totally not sequels nor part of a trilogy. But they will be filmed back-to-back and create “hundreds” of jobs since he’ll be shooting everything domestically. And you know what? Avatar made approximately seven gazillion dollars internationally, so this might mean he gets to do whatever he wants, wherever he wants, with the sequels. No sweat, he says. The Terminator sequel turned out A-OK, didn’t it.

According to Cameron, the two new scripts will combine with the existing one to form “an overall character arc” — not a trilogy, not a series, just a long-ass story that all comes together in the end. I guess this means that while the character arcs take place over the course of three movies, they can still be viewed as stand-alone films? As every writer knows, characters can take on lives of their own when you start writing them. And in order to become more acquainted with his characters, Cameron “goes to Pandora”:

… [M]y job is take the audience on a journey and entertain them. The second I am sitting down writing, I just go to Pandora. I don’t think about that stuff, about standing on a red carpet. It has its own life, really. The characters have their own lives.

It’s not about the success. It’s not about the money. It’s about the story. The art. So, he’s not the guy who said “I’m King of the World” at the Oscars when he won a slew of awards for Titanic? He’s just doing this for the art now? Um … sure! Okay, James Cameron.

We have no idea what happens behind the scenes at Chez Cameron, whether he completely flies off the handle and succumbs to massive panic attacks when he realizes the pressure of having to repeat his previous successes, which only get huger and huger. But man, can he stay chilled out while talking about it. How do we score some tickets to Pandora? … Oh, are they seven gazillion dollars? Okay, we’ll just hang out here then.

The Avatar sequels are set for 2013 and 2014 releases.

(Fox News via /Film via Gamma Squad)