--- title: 10 Questions for James Cameron | TIME description: With the release of his latest film, Avatar, the director even beat his own record: on Jan. 26 it surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing film worldwide. James Cameron answers reader questions here. canonical: https://time.com/video/AQG6nnm0/ og:title: 10 Questions for James Cameron og:description: With the release of his latest film, Avatar, the director even beat his own record: on Jan. 26 it surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing film worldwide. James Cameron answers reader questions here. og:url: https://time.com/video/AQG6nnm0/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/AQG6nnm0/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Questions for James Cameron twitter:description: With the release of his latest film, Avatar, the director even beat his own record: on Jan. 26 it surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing film worldwide. James Cameron answers reader questions here. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/AQG6nnm0/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # 10 Questions for James Cameron > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 10 Questions for James Cameron [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions for James Cameron](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AQG6nnm0.m3u8) (6:12)  _Published 2010-03-04. With the release of his latest film, Avatar, the director even beat his own record: on Jan. 26 it surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing film worldwide. James Cameron answers reader questions here._ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [4 Highest-Grossing Concert Films](/video/tBkOadiX/) ### 4 Highest-Grossing Concert Films [5 Highest-Grossing Horror Films MONEY](/video/gdtoqAXR/) ### 5 Highest-Grossing Horror Films MONEY [Origins: What Influences James Cameron](/video/cLkQE5xO/) ### Origins: What Influences James Cameron --- ## Transcript >> This is TIME Magazine. I'm here with James Cameron who's taking questions from TIME readers. >> Great. I'm all set. >> This question comes from a reader in Aruba who asks, " Is Avatar a native- American story ?" >> No, not exclusively. When I was writing it, I was thinking more about the colonial period of the French and Spanish and English, kind of coming in and taking over North America, Central, America, South America, Australia, where they were basically almost completely genocidal to the aboriginal people there, you know. So our track record as human being is pretty bad historically when it comes to a militarily superior society interacting with militarily, you know, less powerful society. They either get wiped out, you get displaced and they wind up, you know, kind of refugees or on reservations or they wind up in slave. So, you know, this is not something we need to feel guilty about. It's something we just need to be aware of that as human beings we have this kind of sense of entitlement. If we can take it, we will. The major relevance now is that's our attitude about nature. We used to take it. We mine it, we strip it, we log it, we take from the ocean and we take all the fish and we don't consider ourselves with sustainability with getting back that which we've taken. And it's not a sustainable model. We're gonna die out if we don't change our perception. >> From Julie Patrick in Manhattan Beach, California who asks, " I connected with Avatar's message about the planet and taking care of our forests, oceans and wildlife. How can we here on earth create our own Pandora? >> Yes. It's interesting. You know, people are talking about being depressed coming out of the movie and, you know, I tell them, you know, go for a walk in the forest. Go, you know, snorkeling in a coral reef where you appreciate the nature we have. So think from our respect for nature comes in action. I guess what Avatar ask people to do is to have an emotional reaction to the movie and then translate that emotional reaction into action in their day to day lives. >> Mark Monroe in Paris asks, what was the most powerful motivator for writing Avatar? >> That's an interesting question. I mean, all of these thoughts and ideas were clearly swirling around that, you know, that are just been talking about. But another powerful motivator was the opportunity to do like a kind of mega- design project, where you get to design everything. You get to design the vehicles and the creatures and the plants and everything that is in front of the camera gets the design other than actually the actors' faces and bodies and even men, the main characters are either Na'vi or they take in Avatar form, so even those characters get design. I love art, I love design. I love science fiction. So to me that was right in my area code as the all- time fantasy project. So I was writing toward visual goals that I had as much as thematic ones. >> With Avatar being just as successful as Titanic, are you planning on taking another 12 years before the next-- >> I didn't plan on taking 12 years last time, so I get into that. And look, I have a lot of interest besides filming. I'm interested in space exploration, [ unk ] exploration. I'm interested in alternative energy. There are lots of things that I want to be doing beside just making movies. But I don't-- my current plan is not to take 12 years. My current plan is to do-- is to start another film. If not an Avatar film, something like that, that uses a lot of these new techniques as we built a great team to make Avatar and the enthusiasm and the passion of that team and the capability of that team is what would make me wanna do another film like this pretty much right away. >> How do you think the use of CGI and 3D will affect cinema? >> Well, look at me. We've already seen that, you know, Hollywood is now 3D- crazy and they're trying to convert movies to 3D, which is a classic example of Hollywood getting it wrong, you know. We show them that a movie that took four- and- a- half years to make and was authored in native 3D can make a lot of money from which they conclude that if they just smash, bash a movie into 3D in an eight- week period, they can accomplish the same thing. In terms of the future of CGs, it's gonna continue the way it's been developing. I mean, obviously there's a milestone with I think with Avatar in terms of the emotional reality of CG characters that can now I think continue that will have acceptance from here on. You know, I think that we're at interesting stage right now, where as film- makers, if we can imagine it, we can create it. And I think, you know, I said that previously but I don't think it was quite true because there was always this-- when I was thought of is the last frontier or the last hurdle, which was emotional truth and this type of type close- up in a fully CG character sustain through a lot of movie. Not as a little stunt in the middle of the movie but sustain throughout the film. And, you know, I think we've overcome that hurdle. >> Which character trait or character flow you prefer is the most important explanation of your success? >> I mean, for me I would say, it's all driven by curiosity and the desire to be personally challenged. Those two things I can sum up-- sum it all up and I don't know if it's a formula for success. It's just what drives me. Very curious, I wanna know more. I choose projects that I'm gonna learn from. I choose projects that are challenging. I don't wanna do the same thing twice. So I think, you know, I think personal challenge, you know, trying to strive for excellence. And to me, the-- in filmmaking the excellence is how excellent can the entertainment experience be for the audience and I'll pull that all stops to do that. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions for James Cameron","description":"With the release of his latest film, Avatar, the director even beat his own record: on Jan. 26 it surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing film worldwide. 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