Aside from making quick trips to one of the deepest parts of the ocean and gathering materials for documentaries, it seems like James Cameron is all about Avatar these days. And from the sounds of a recent chat with the New York Times, he’s going even further into exploring Pandora.

The most intriguing element of the interview (spotted by the gang at The Playlist), is where he drops mention of another possible trip to the blue moon for a fourth outing. "I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them.”

Yes, it’s a brief nugget and should by no means be taken as the filmmaking throwing the switch to green light the fourth film, but it’s certainly an indication that he’s truly dedicated to the idea of sticking with the Avatar story.

So why the apparent obsession? "That all sounds, I suppose, a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing. I’ve done five documentaries in the last 10 years, and I’ll hopefully do a lot more.”

The Marianas Trench expedition was part of that effort, with Cameron revealing that he should have a new documentary ready for early next year. In terms of Avatar, the release dates for the second and third films have been shifting a little, with Jon Landau telling Empire last month that 2014 might be tough. But at least we know Cameron's in it for the long haul…