Taking a momentary break from preparing the Avatar sequels, James Cameron hit Reddit’s Ask Me Anything forum this weekend to promote a new climate change documentary he’s produced, Years Of Living Dangerously. While the questions were varied in topic, there was naturally some talk of his return trips to Pandora, which Cameron tackled candidly.
Asked about the current schedule for the three follow-ups, Cameron said that things are progressing swiftly: “The second, third and fourth films all go into production simultaneously. They're essentially all in pre-production now because we are designing creatures, settings and characters that span all three films. And we should be finished with all three scripts within the next, I would say, six weeks.”
As for whether he feels under pressure to ramp things up this time? “There's always pressure, whether it's a new film or whether it's a sequel, to entertain and amaze an audience,” he said. “I've felt that pressure my entire career, so there's nothing new there. The biggest pressure I feel right now is cutting out things I love to get the film down to a length that is affordable. There hasn't been a problem finding new and wonderful things to include in the movie.”
Other topics covered included his favourite guilty pleasure film (the first Resident Evil, apparently), what he sings in the shower (Ride Of The Valkyries or maybe Springsteen, depending on his mood) and – thanks, Internet! – a question of who would win in a fight between a Na’vi, the Alien Queen and a T-800 Terminator (the game director gave several answers, like any good nerd should). For the full Q&A, head here.