James Cameron

At 69 years old, James Cameron has this physical status:

Career

Cameron's production career began in 1978. After borrowing funds from a group of dentists, he learned to write, write, and produce his first short film, Xenogenesis (1978) with a friend. Cameron said he felt like a doctor doing his first surgical procedure as they went. He later served as a production assistant at Rock and Roll High School (1979). Cameron started working as a miniature model maker at Roger Corman Studios while learning about filmmaking methods. He was quickly hired as an art director for the science-fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). He created the special effects for John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981), was a production designer for Galaxy of Terror (1981), and consulted on the Android version (1982).

Cameron was hired as the special effects director for Piranha (1978), titled Piranha II: The Spawning. Miller Drake, the original director, left the project due to creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis. The film was shot in Rome, Italy, and on Grand Cayman Island, giving Cameron the opportunity to be the director of a major film for the first time. However, Cameron later said that it did not feel like his first film due to Assonitis' power struggles. Cameron, who was in Rome and suffering from a fever, had a phobia about an invincible robot hit-man sent from the future to murder him, which later led to the creation of The Terminator. Critics weren't impressed on the introduction of Piranha II: The Spawning; author Tim Healey called it "a marvellously bad film that splices clichés from every conceivable source."

Cameron, inspired by John Carpenter's horror film Halloween (1978), wrote the script for The Terminator (1984), a sci-fi action film about a cyborg sent from the future to carry out a lethal mission. Cameron wanted to write the script so that he could direct the film. Although some film studios expressed an interest in the scheme, many executives were reluctant to let a new and unfamiliar director direct the film. Gale Anne Hurd, a coworker and founder of Pacific Western Productions, to whom Cameron was married from 1984 to 1989, agreed to buy Cameron's script on condition that Cameron direct the film. He convinced Hemdale Pictures President John Kerry to direct the film, with Cameron as director and Hurd as producer, with Hurd as the producer. Lance Henriksen, who appeared in Piranha II: The Spawning, was considered for the lead role, but Cameron decided that Arnold Schwarzenegger was more suited for the cyborg villain due to his bodybuilder appearance. Henriksen was given a smaller role instead. Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn and Cameron's future wife, appeared on the show. The Terminator met all expectations set by Orion Pictures, surpassing Orion Pictures' expectations. The film attracted huge audiences and earned over $78 million worldwide. "Cameron laces the action with humourous parody, but never stops on hints that the terror could strike at any time," BBC George Perry praised Cameron's path. The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2008, having been categorized "culturally, historically, or visually significant."

Cameron co-wrote the screenplay for Rambo: Part II with Sylvester Stallone in 1984. Cameron jumped into his next directorial film, Alien (1979), a science fiction horror directed by Ridley Scott. Cameron recasts Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, who appeared in Alien first in 1989, after titling the sequel Aliens (1986). Ripley, the protagonist of Aliens, appears as she aids a group of marines in battling extraterrestrials. Through rehearsals with cast and crew, and the fact that one of the lead actors, James Remar, was forced to replace one of the lead actors, brought over $130 million worldwide. In 1987, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards; Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound. It received awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. In addition, Weaver and the film appeared on the front page of Time magazine in July 1986.

Cameron, Cameron, and Gale Anne Hurd decided to make The Abyss, a tale about oil-rig workers who discover strange aquatic life in the ocean. The film was initially planned at $41 million, but it went much over budget due to an assumption that Cameron had dreamed of during high school. Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn appeared on the show. Production began in the Cayman Islands and South Carolina, in the midst of the construction of an unfinished nuclear power plant with two massive water tanks. Cameron's authoritarian behavior, as well as the filming of water scenes which were physically and mentally exhausting, are recalled by the cast and crew. The Abyss was praised for its special effects upon the film's release, and it earned $90 million at the international box office. The Abyss received four Academy Award nominations and the Best Visual Effects award.

Cameron co-founded Lightstorm Entertainment with partner Lawrence Kasanoff in 1990. Cameron served as executive producer for Point Break (1991), directed by Kathryn Bigelow, to whom he was married between 1989 and 1991. Following the success of The Terminator, there have been calls for a sequel. Mario Kassar of Carolco Pictures won the rights to the sequel in the 1980s, allowing Cameron to begin filming of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). William Wisher Jr. and himself wrote the book, Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton reprise their roles. The tale follows Terminator's portrayal of a new villain (T-1000), with shape-shifting capabilities and hunts for Sarah Connor's son, John (Edward Furlong). Robert Patrick was named T-1000 by Cameron for his lean and thin appearance, a sharp contrast to Schwarzenegger. "I wanted someone who was both fast and flexible," Cameron said. The T-800 is a Porsche, unless the T-800 is a human Panzer tank. Terminator 2 was one of the most expensive films to be made, costing at least $94 million. Despite the difficult use of computer-generated images (CGI), the film was finished on time and released on July 3, 1991. Terminator 2 set new box office records (including the first weekend for an R-rated film) in North America, grossing over $200 million in North America and becoming the first to earn over $300 million globally. It received four Academy Awards: Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing were also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, but it was sadly lacking both to JFK (1991).

Cameron intended to make a third Terminator film in subsequent years, but no plans were forthcoming. Kassar acquired the rights to the Terminator brand from a bankruptcy sale of Carolco's assets. Cameron went on to other ventures in 1993 and co-founded Digital Domain, a visual effects production firm. Cameron and Schwarzenegger reunited in 1994 for their third collaboration, True Lies, a recreation of La Totale, a 1991 French comedy. The tale depicts an American undercover agent who lives a double life as a married man whose wife suspects him of being a computer salesman. Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku, and Tom Arnold appear in the film co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku. Lightstorm Entertainment, Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment, has signed a 20th Century Fox production of True Lies. The film, which was budgeted at least $100 million, earned $146 million in the United States and Canada. Curtis was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and it was honoured with the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Cameron co-produced Strange Days, a science fiction romance from 1995. Kathryn Bigelow produced the film and Jay Cocks co-written it. Strange Days was both financially and emotionally draining. Cameron reunited with the cast of Terminator 2 in 1996 to film T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, an attraction at Universal Studios Florida and other parks around the world.

Titanic (1997), RMS Titanic's grand film about the sinking of an iceberg, was his next big project. At the time, it was the most expensive film ever made, with a $200 million production budget. Cameron sank many dives to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in 1995 to photograph a video of the wreck, which would later be used in the film. In September 1996, a replica of the ship was constructed in Rosarito Beach, and principal photography was started in September 1996. Titanic made news before its unveiling for being overbudget and meeting its deadline. Cameron's complete screenplay portrays two celebrity-crossed lovers, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, from various social groups who fall in love amid the tragedy's backdrop; a drastic departure from his previous roles. Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, Danny Nucci, David Warner, and Bill Paxton are among the supporting cast members.

Titanic debuted on December 19, 1997, after months of delay. The film received critical acclaim and became the country's highest-grossing film of all time, delving for ten years before Cameron's Avatar tied the record in 2010. The costumes and sets were praised, and The Washington Post called the CGI graphics to be breathtaking. At the 1998 Academy Awards, Titanic received a record-tie of fourteen nominations (tied with All About Eve (1950)). It won 11 of the awards, tied for most wins with Ben-Hur's 1959 ton's, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. Cameron and producer Jon Landau requested a moment of silence to honor the 1,500 people who died when the ship sank after receiving Best Picture. Roger Ebert, a film critic, lauded Cameron's film "It is flawlessly crafted, thoughtfully planned, superbly performed, and spellbinding." Kevin Sandler and Gaylyn Studlar wrote in 1999 that the romance, historical nostalgia, and James Horner's music all contributed to the film's cultural phenomenon. Titanic's second film to be nominated for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2017 on its 20th anniversary.

Cameron maintained a low profile after the huge coverage of Titanic. He and his brother, John, formed Earthship Productions, a company that would enable documentaries to be broadcast on the deep sea, which was one of Cameron's dreams. He had intended to make a film about Spider-Man, a project that was funded by Menahem Golan of Cannon Films. Cameron recruited David Koepp to convert Cameron's thoughts into a film play, but Cameron decided against it due to various circumstances. Spider-Man was first announced in 2002 with the solely credited to Koepp. Cameron made his television debut in 2000 and co-created Dark Angel with Charles H. Eglee, a television series influenced by cyberpunk, biopunk, young heroes, and third-wave feminism. Max Guevara, a genetically advanced super-soldier created by a shadowy group, appeared on Dark Angel as Jessica Alba. Although the first season was moderately successful, the second season was less successful, resulting in the cancellation of the series.

Cameron appeared as producer on the 2002 film Solaris, a science fiction drama directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2002. The film received mixed reviews and did poorly at the box office. Cameron's Expedition: Bismarck to make documentaries, but he wanted to make documentaries. He produced Ghosts of the Abyss, a documentary about RMS Titanic that was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media and was intended for 3D theaters in 2003. Cameron told The Guardian that he intended to film everything in 3D. Cameron co-directed Aliens of the Deep, a documentary about the various aspects of life in the ocean in 2005. He appeared in Titanic Adventure with Tony Robinson, another documentary about the Titanic shipwreck. Cameron co-created and narrated The Exodus Decoded, a documentary that delves into the Biblical account of the Exodus. The Lost Tomb of Jesus was produced by Cameron and his colleague Simcha Jacobovici in 2007. On March 4, 2007, it was broadcast on Discovery Channel; the documentary was criticized for claiming that the Talpiot Tomb was the burial site of Jesus of Nazareth.

Cameron has returned to directing and directing another mainstream film since Titanic in the mid-2000s. Cameron had planned two projects as early as June 2005; Avatar (2009) and Alita: Battle Angel (2019), the latter which he created, were both intended to be shot in 3D technology. Alita: Battle Angel first, followed by Avatar, but he had to cancel the order in February 2006. Despite Cameron's written an 80-page Avatar story in 1995, Cameron said that the necessary technology should be enhanced before starting production. Avatar had a projected budget in excess of $300 million, despite the fact that the story line was established in the mid-22nd century. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver are among the cast members. It was produced with a mix of live action video and computer-generated animation, using an advanced version of the performance capture technique that was previously used by director Robert Zemeckis in The Polar Express. Cameron intended Avatar to be 3D-only, but he later modified it for standard viewing.

Avatar premiered on December 18, 2009, and it was supposed to be released in May 2009. This postponement gave theaters more time for post-production and the possibility for theaters to purchase 3D projectors. During its first theatrical run, Avatar broke multiple box office records. In the United States and Canada, it grossed $749.7 million in the United States and Canada, as well as more than $2.74 billion worldwide, making it the world's largest-grossing film, surpassing Titanic. It was the first film to earn more than $2 billion around the world. Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and three others were finalists: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. An extended theatrical re-release in July 2010 brought in a worldwide $33.2 million at the box office. Sukhdev Sandhu of The Telegraph praised the 3D in his mixed analysis, but opined that Cameron "should have been more aggressive in his editing." Cameron's earnings were US$257 million last year, making him the highest earner in Hollywood. Avatar and Titanic have earned the distinction of being the first two of the five films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide as of 2020.

Cameron appeared in Sanctum, a disaster-survival film about a cave diving expedition that turns deadly, in 2011. Despite mixed reviews, the film earned a fair $108 million at the worldwide box office. In a 2012 television documentary special, Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron, which premiered on April 8 on the National Geographic Channel, Cameron revisited the sinking of RMS Titanic with eight experts. The experts reimagined the CGI version of the sinking that was supposed in 1995. In March 2010, Cameron announced that Titanic would be converted and re-released in 3D to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the disaster. Titanic 3D premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on March 27, 2012. In 2012 and 2014, he also served as executive producer of Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away and Deepsea Challenge 3D.

Cameron appeared in the 2017 film Atlantis Rising, alongside co-worker Simcha Jacobovici. The pair embarked on a trip to investigate the city of Atlantis' existence. On January 29, the program premiered on the National Geographic channel. Cameron produced and appeared in a documentary about science fiction's past. The six-episodic film Story of Science Fiction, by James Cameron, was released on AMC in 2018. Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Christopher Nolan were among the guests featured on the program. "Without Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury and Robert A. Heinlein would not have been Ray Bradbury or Robert A. Heinlein, and without them, there will not be [George] Lucas, Ridley Scott, or me," he said.

Alita: After being in parallel development with Avatar, Battle Angel was finally released in 2019. Robert Rodriguez, a Cameron and friend, wrote the film. Battle Angel Alita, a 1990s Japanese manga series, depicts a cyborg who can't remember much of her past life and seeks to discover the truth. Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson were all shot in Avatar, using the same techniques and technologies as in Avatar. The film debuted on January 31, 2019, to generally positive reviews and $404 million at the international box office. Despite the bulky script, Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com called it "an awe-inspiring leap for [Rodriguez] and "a visual bonanza" in her review. Cameron returned to Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) as producer and writer.

Cameron also confirmed plans to produce three sequels to Avatar in August 2014, 2017 and 2018. However, the release dates have been postponed until December 16, 2022, with the following three sequels launching on December 20, 2026, and 2028. These would be over $1 billion, according to a deadline set by Hollywood. Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar 3 began simultaneous production in Manhattan Beach, California, on August 15, 2017. Principal photography in New Zealand began on September 25, 2017. As soon as The Way of Water and Avatar 3 have finished, the other sequels are expected to be released. Cameron said in a 2017 interview, "Let's face it," if Avatar 2 and 3 don't make enough money, there will not be a 4 and 5".

Lightstorm Entertainment acquired the film rights to Taylor Stevens' book The Informationist, a thriller set in Africa; Cameron intends to direct. He said in 2010 that he'd adapt Charles R. Pellegrino's book The Last Train from Hiroshima, about the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's nuclear bombings. Before his death in 2010, Cameron met with survivor Tsutomu Yamachi.

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