News culture “It’s harder to write” For James Cameron, SF is the genre that causes the most problems for a very specific reason
It’s difficult to talk about science fiction cinema without mentioning James Cameron. With “Terminator,” “Aliens” and “Avatar,” the Canadian director created or worked on some of the genre’s most legendary sagas. However, he recently admitted that writing science fiction is becoming increasingly difficult.
It is difficult for James Cameron to write science fiction
While this genre may have been known as inaccessible in the past, the Science fiction seems to be making a big comeback in the popular landscape. Whether with dune, Avatar or ForeignerMany big budget films currently focus on science fiction. And we obviously find him to be one of the most prolific directors in the genre James CameronAfter creating “Terminator” and directing “Aliens,” the Canadian director finally found his favorite universe with the Avatar saga. But even though you might think he knows science fiction very well, James Cameron recently admitted that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to write scripts like this:
We’re at a point today where it’s getting harder and harder to write science fiction because we live in a science fiction world on a daily basis. I’m working on themes that I’d like to bring to a new Terminator movie or possibly some kind of reboot, and right now it’s difficult because I want to clear the smoke. We risk watching this ride to the end of human history, but the next few years will be crucial.
Interviewed by our colleagues from The Guardian, James Cameron therefore seems to believe that new technologies and the progress of society are getting closer and closer to what science fiction stories warned us about a few years ago. In this context, it is difficult to continue writing stories of this kind that are designed to move away from the real world and speak better about it. On this subject, he jokes that he “warned us in 1984” but that we didn’t listen to him. Even though Skynet’s AI is not the same as the one being discussed today, he still notes some similarities between the two artificial intelligences and in particular the way in which they pose a certain threat to humanity and how they are changing the world as we know it.
It is unlikely that the director will retire soon
But even though James Cameron is starting to have trouble writing science fiction screenplays, he has no plans to stop anytime soon. While he recently celebrated his seventieth birthday, the Canadian director is currently working on Avatar 3 and confirms that he is in great shape for it. A few weeks ago he stated:
Look, we all have a limited amount of time to do things in this life. I think you are more aware of that and may be setting priorities. I love the work I do now and I have no complaints. As long as I am healthy and active and doing things that stimulate me creatively and intellectually, I am a happy man.
The Avatar franchise therefore seems to be the one that has stimulated him the most in recent years, so he continues with his plan to make at least five films. Recently, the second work, “The Way of Water”, was a box office hit, and the third is currently in production. He also confirmed his title Avatar: Fire and Ashes during the last D23 and its release date for December 19, 2025According to him, this third film is “will not be what people expect, but what people want“ To be completely sure, you need to be patient.
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