Cameron Resurfaces for Avatar

Although it might seem as if it were only yesterday that James Cameron declared himself King of the World, it's actually been nine years since he hoisted Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for Titanic. 

But now, after several voyages beneath the sea for documentary purposes and then a gig helming the make-believe blockbuster Aquaman solely for Entourage consideration, Cameron is teaming up with 20th Century Fox to direct the sci-fi fantasy Avatar, a $200 million production that, according to the director and the studio, will be filmed in 3-D using an unprecedented combination of computer animation and motion-capture technology. 

As was the case with Titanic, which scored 11 Oscars, spent 15 consecutive weeks as number one at the box office and raked in an all-time high $1.8 billion worldwide, Cameron also penned the screenplay for Avatar. The futuristic tale pits a human army, led by a paralyzed war vet played by Australian actor Sam Worthington, against an alien battalion.  

To make matters more complicated, Worthington will have an alien love interest, embodied by Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl beauty Zoe Saldana. According to Fox, both actors have signed on for possible future installments of the would-be franchise. 

"We’re creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language," Cameron said. "The story is both epic and emotional.   

"The two things that make this film even possible are pioneering advances in CG effects and performance capture, as well as my 22-year relationship with Fox, since only with great trust can you operate so close to the cutting edge."   

Akin to what Robert Zemeckis did with The Polar Express, Cameron's characters will be computer-designed based on the actors who play them. What will be new is the fact that said characters will then be inserted into an entirely photorealistic world. 

"Once again Jim is transforming the medium," Jim Gianopulos, cochairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, told the New York Times. "Jim's not just a filmmaker; every one of his films have pushed the envelope, in its aesthetic and in technology. This is an astounding undertaking, and one only Jim could do justice to." 

Cameron announced in June 2005 that he had two big digital productions in the works, one evidently being Avatar, which didn't have a title at the time, and the next being Battle Angel, based on a series of graphic sci-fi novels by Yukito Kirshiro. 

Finally letting the world in on the progress he's made on that front, Cameron told the Times Monday that he was already four months into shooting Avatar's nonprincipal (i.e., less expensive) scenes by the time Fox gave him the go-ahead. 

"I've looked long and hard at Titanic and other effects-related things I've done where they've drifted budget-wise," said Cameron, who since his much-ballyhooed disaster flick has helmed the Imax documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep and produced the Jessica Alba series Dark Angel.  

Titanic went notoriously way over budget during production, eventually becoming the most expensive film ever made. But according to Cameron, who reportedly rules with an iron fist from his perch behind the camera, Avatar will not face similar difficulties. 

"This has been designed from the ground up to avoid those pitfalls," he said. "Will we have other pitfalls? Yes, probably."

Avatar is destined, in all its 3-D glory, for theaters in summer 2009. Live-action production is scheduled to start in April, with Peter Jackson's special effects company Weta Digital handling the major visual tricks.