James Cameron Confirms 'Technical Discussions' About 'Avatar' Sequel

Writer/director discussed the possibility of a follow-up to the highest-grossing domestic film of all time on 'Larry King Live.'

On the same day that "Avatar" was officially announced as the highest-grossing domestic film of all time ($601 million at the box office and counting), writer/director James Cameron appeared on "Larry King Live" to talk all things blue and alien, as well as a tiny bit about the sequel that we all know by now is going to happen.

"[W]e have had some technical discussions of how we would do it," Cameron said on Wednesday's program.

That vaguely worded statement might jibe with rumors circulating on the Web that technical crew for an "Avatar" sequel are already being hired. One might have hoped for King to follow up with a probing question or three, but the CNN host seemed content to move on. Sit-down interviews with Cameron are hard to come by these days (unless you're Oprah), so King's interview represented a significant missed opportunity to reveal breaking news. Instead, King spent his time rehashing the cinematic past, talking B.O. numbers and giggling over a mockup of himself as a blue Na'vi alien.

What else was there to discuss? Well, we know from actor Joel David Moore that the cast have been involved in discussions about a sequel. And we know from producer Jon Landau that the pressure's on to jump right back into a sequel rather than start a different project. And we know Cameron has a pretty good idea of where the next story will go.

All or any of this information would have provided the basis for a compelling line of questioning, but it was not to be. Oh, Larry, what could have been! For now we'll have to wait, both for word from Cameron's Fox overlords and for the man who's made the top two highest-grossing films ever to get to work. "I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now, but I haven't really put any serious work into writing a script," Cameron told us in December.

http://www.mtv.com/

Zoe Saldana on Avatar Sequel: I’m Just Grateful to Have a Job

They say an actor’s life is hard, and doesn’t Zoe Saldana know it. The most exciting thing for the sci-fi beauty about the long-awaited sequels for Star Trek and Avatar is the prospect of continued employment.

“I mean, I’m just grateful that between Star Trek II and Avatar II, I’m employed,” Zoe told E! Online at a West Hollywood Haiti benefit which she co-hosted with Emile Hirsch and Michelle Rodriguez.


OK! NEWS: AVATAR AND THE HURT LOCKER DOMINATE THE 82ND OSCARS

“Jim [Cameron] has proven once again that even though he takes a decade between his projects, he promises to deliver you the most amazing adventure ever,” Zoe, who plays the movie’s heroine Neytiri, said.

With nine Oscar nominations for Avatar — including Best Picture and Best Director — James is in no hurry to rush out the next adventure on planet Pandora.

OK! NEWS: ZOE SALDANA SPEAKS FLUENT NA’VI

“We just have to come up with a great story, which we haven’t done yet,” he says. “I have a rough story, but you need to make a script, so that might take some time. Don’t start going to buy your tickets.”

James Cameron hints at Avatar sequel

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Canadian director James Cameron said he could be "persuaded" to film a sequel to his record-breaking science-fiction epic "Avatar."

The futuristic 3-D blockbuster reached yet another milestone on Tuesday, when it smashed the North American box office record previously held by Cameron's "Titanic" (1997).

"We might be persuaded. We'll have to see how much money the movie makes first," Cameron told CNN on Wednesday when asked about a possible sequel.

Money should be of no concern, with "Avatar" having already racked up over 2.05 billion dollars worldwide, including over 601.1 million in the United States and Canada, overtaking the 600.8 million "Titanic" earned.

It has also secured nine Oscar nominations, including in the leading categories of best film and best director, as well as several technical achievement categories.

In his first interview since his film earned its massive success, Cameron said he was "absolutely" surprised by the records it has broken.

"And that's not some sort of false humility. We thought it was gonna be a commercial movie, but we didn't think it was gonna do half of what it's done financially," he said.

"I see a very similar pattern, in a sense, between Titanic and Avatar. Not that they are similar films because they are not -- totally different subjects -- but in both cases, you have people coming back over and over to see the film."

Cameron pointed to an "emotional connection" of the public across cultural boundaries with these films.

Despite not saying a word about the Oscar nominations, he acknowledged that making "Avatar" -- believed to be the most expensive motion picture ever -- was no easy undertaking.

"I had to keep from putting a pistol in my mouth about 20 times during the making of this film," he said ironically.

"That's the nature of an experimental project. It is like the Lewis and Clark expedition (to the US Pacific coast). They can have a general idea where they are going but there is no way you could predict all twists and turns along the way."

'Avatar' Sequel Is War Movie, Coming Within Four Years

While 'Avatar' ends with a battle, the follow-up is said to present a huge war but it reportedly will not be worked on soon after the first film.

Despite all the talks about the follow-up to highly-successful "Avatar" which suggested that the sequel is underway, MarketSaw has just noted that it may not come that fast. The site has claimed a source told them that the next installment for the sci-fi film franchise will be made within four years. However, it has not been known when the pre-production for this forthcoming project will be started.

About what can be expected from the second "Avatar" movie, the site further informed that it will be a full blown war. Meanwhile, it was previously reported that the sequel will not take place in distant moon Pandora. Additionally, MarketSaw reported some of the parts of the first film's script that didn't make it into the movie, will be used in the next installment.

Recently, Joel David Moore spoke to MTV that James Cameron has shared some of his ideas about the "Avatar" sequel with him and other cast members. "There have been conversations about certain ways to go," the actor who plays anthropologist Norm Spellman in the big-budget movie said, before adding "Of course nothings set in stone. I love all the ideas."

"Avatar", which was first released on December 18, 2009, follows Sam Worthington's Jake Sully who embarks on a journey to Pandora to join Avatar program and later leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. As of February 1, the film has raked in total domestic cume of $595.8 million and become the highest worldwide grosser of all time with $2.04 billion global revenue.