James Cameron, Leave Avatar And Make One Sequel To Your Other Sci-Fi Masterpiece
If there’s one thing that James Cameron has made abundantly clear, it’s that he prefers to make Avatar movies from now until he retires. While fans of Pandora and the vibrant world of Avatar undoubtedly love to hear this, fans of Cameron’s other masterful franchises likely are feeling a little left out in the cold. As much as Cameron loves the Avatar franchise, would it really be so bad to hand off at least one of the three upcoming films to someone else while he returns to make a Terminator or Aliens sequel?
Get The Terminator Franchise Back On Track
James Cameron launched the Terminator franchise back in 1984 with The Terminator, and the film, along with its somehow even better sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day, have become cultural touchstones and landmark sci-fi classics. Of course, subsequent entries where Cameron has been hands-off with the franchise ever since, other than producing the most recent film, Terminator: Dark Fate. Having Cameron put his creative energies into getting the Terminator franchise back on track would be an amazing use of his time and would probably be more appreciated than another Avatar film by the sci-fi community at large.
Cameron Produced The Best Film In The Alien Franchise
On a similar note, fans of James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens would love to see him return to that franchise as well. While the Alien franchise wasn’t Cameron’s baby like the Terminator franchise was, his more action-oriented take was one of the best films of the series. It was a great follow-up and juxtaposition to the more quiet, tense Alien, which itself was a masterpiece in a different way.
Much like the Terminator franchise, the Alien franchise has struggled to find its footing after James Cameron moved on. Ridley Scott’s Alien and Cameron’s Aliens have been the only universally praised entries to the franchise, and Scott has since come back to the franchise to helm the divisive Prometheus and Alien: Covenant prequels. Perhaps Cameron’s creative touch is what’s needed to get the franchise back on track.
The Best Choice: Terminator
However, if James Cameron would have to choose between the two, the best option would likely be having him return to the Terminator franchise. The Terminator franchise has no immediate plans for a big blockbuster in the near future, while the Alien franchise has the upcoming Alien: Romulus scheduled for 2024. Alien: Romulus looks promising, so there’s hope we could get another good Alien film in the near future.
James Cameron Is Busy With Avatar Sequels
One thing is for certain, though: James Cameron doesn’t really seem like he wants to come back to those franchises. He is fully committed to his ongoing Avatar saga, with the third film already in the works and scheduled to come out in 2025. Cameron loves to push the limits of filmmaking technology and visual effects, and the Avatar franchise allows him to do that.
Avatar Is James Cameron’s Biggest Money Maker
The reason James Cameron is pretty much given carte blanche to spend a bunch of money on the Avatar franchise is that these films make a ton of money. Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water are the first and third highest-grossing films of all time, respectively. With all that money and the creative freedom Cameron has to do whatever he wants, it’s no wonder that he wants to keep making Avatar movies.
Still, that doesn’t mean fans don’t want to see more from James Cameron. He certainly doesn’t owe anyone anything, but it would be incredibly exciting to see Cameron decide to return to some of his greatest efforts. Maybe he’ll change his mind at some point, but for now, we’ll just have to buckle up and enjoy the spectacle of Avatar in the meantime.
