James Cameron Says Pitting Avatar Sequels Against Star Wars Would Be Stupid

James Cameron likes to challenge himself when it comes to his filmmaking, but apparently attempting to take on ‘Star Wars’ would be too much even for him.

Following his announcement that there will be four 'Avatar’ sequels in total, Cameron described taking on 'Star Wars’ as “stupid” and also discussed the bizarre approach he’s taking to filming the new films.

- First Doctor Strange trailer
- Sarah Palin backs anti-climate change doc
- Chris Evans initially turned down Captain America

“My original plan was to release them a year apart, but we’re opening that up. If for no other reason than that I don’t want to land on the same date as one of the 'Star Wars’ sequels,” he told Famous Monsters of Filmland. “That wouldn’t be fair to them [laughs].

"No, that’s just good business. I don’t want to go head-to-head with 'Star Wars’. That would be stupid. And hopefully they won’t want to go head-to-head with us.”

Fair enough. As huge a success as 'Avatar’ was it is not a series with proven long-term appeal like 'Star Wars’ and taking it on would be a ridiculous decision.

As for his approaching to filming the sequels, Cameron said: "It’s not back-to-back. It’s really all one big production. It’s more the way you would shoot a miniseries. So we’ll be shooting across all ('Avatar’ scripts) simultaneously. So Monday I might be doing a scene from Movie Four, and Tuesday I’m doing a scene from Movie One.

"We’re working across, essentially, eight hours of story. It’s going to be a big challenge to keep it all fixed in our minds, exactly where we are, across that story arc at any given point. It’s going to be probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.

"I’m sure the actors will be challenged by that as well. It’s like, ‘No, no, no, no, this person hasn’t died yet, so you’re still in this phase of your life.’ It’s a saga. It’s like doing all three 'Godfather’ films at the same time.”

Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington will reprise their roles from the 2009 (yes, it’s that old) original, with Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang touted to return - despite the deaths of their characters in the first film.

Cameron’s original ‘Avatar’ is the second highest-grossing film of all time behind Cameron’s previous film ‘Titanic’. 'Avatar 2’ is set for release in 2018, with the following three films set for 2020, 2022 and 2023 - which still sound like made-up science fiction years to us.

Picture Credits: 20th Century Fox

- Classic Ads Made By Movie Directors
- Movie Stars With Historical Lookalikes
- Amazing Batman Trivia