James Cameron is about to become the highest-grossing director of all time, but even he thinks he "might not be up to the task" of making his next movie after Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Speaking to Discussing Film's Andrew J. Salazar about his upcoming adaptation of Ghosts of Hiroshima, which charts the story of survivors of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, Cameron said, "To me, this might be the most challenging film I ever make. I don't 100% have my strategy fully in place for how I want to see it; how I want to shield people from the horror but still be honest; how I can find some kind of poetry, beauty, or spiritual epiphany in it somehow – which I know must be there. It's there in every human story."
"It's going to be very challenging," Cameron reiterated. "I might not even be up to the task, but that never stopped me before."
Cameron bought the rights to Ghosts of Hiroshima – written by Charles Pellegrino, who advised the director on Titanic and Avatar – last year.
In a separate interview with Jake's Takes, Cameron again remained humble in the face of telling its story, including the real-life tragedy of engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who was returning home to see his family in Hiroshima. Upon escaping the blast, he boarded a train to Nagasaki just before it, too, was bombed.
"I only hope that I know enough as a filmmaker to do this subject justice. I know how to do the visual effects – the issue is how to tell this as a human story and, yet, be truthful to what happened, to the horrific aspect of it," Cameron said.
While Ghosts of Hiroshima is undated, the rest of Cameron's releases are already on the calendar. Avatar: Fire and Ash, which just received its first trailer, is out on December 19, 2025. If it grosses $2 billion, it will see Cameron overtake Steven Spielberg as the highest-grossing director in history.
Avatar 4 and 5 hit cinemas on December 21, 2029 and December 19, 2031 respectively. Cameron has even indicated he would be prepared to direct the final two films in the series, despite previously suggesting otherwise.
For more, you'll need our guide to upcoming movies and movie release dates.
