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James Cameron

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James Cameron



 
 
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
, producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
 and screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
. He has written and directed films as disparate as Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
 and Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation. After a string of landmark feature films, Cameron turned his focus to documentary filmmaking and the co-development of the digital 3-D
3-D film

In film, the term 3-D is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the optical illusion of depth as seen by the viewer....
 Fusion Camera System
Digital cinematography cameras

Digital cinematography cameras can be purpose designed professional cameras but cameras designed for domestic use are also used....
.






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James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
, producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
 and screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
. He has written and directed films as disparate as Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
 and Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation. After a string of landmark feature films, Cameron turned his focus to documentary filmmaking and the co-development of the digital 3-D
3-D film

In film, the term 3-D is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the optical illusion of depth as seen by the viewer....
 Fusion Camera System
Digital cinematography cameras

Digital cinematography cameras can be purpose designed professional cameras but cameras designed for domestic use are also used....
. He is currently working on a return to feature filmmaking with the science fiction film Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
, which will make use of the Fusion Camera System technology. Avatar is scheduled for release in December of 2009.

Cameron is noted for his films—which are often highly innovative, artistic and financially successful—as well as his fierce temper and confrontational personality.

Background

Cameron was born in Kapuskasing
Kapuskasing, Ontario

Kapuskasing is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District, Ontario of northern Ontario, Canada, approximately 92 km east of Hearst, Ontario....
, Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, the son of Shirley, an artist
Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
 and nurse, and Phillip Cameron, an electrical engineer. He grew up in Chippawa, Ontario
Chippawa, Ontario

Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.The village was founded in 1850, and became part of the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario by amalgamation in 1968....
 and attended Stamford Collegiate in Niagara Falls, and his family moved to Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003....
 in 1971. While he studied physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 and English
English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics , and English sociolinguistics ....
 at California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton

California State University, Fullerton, commonly known as CSUF, CSU Fullerton, or Cal State Fullerton, is currently the second largest California State University campus....
, Cameron used every opportunity to visit the film archive of UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
. To the surprise of many people, although Cameron had a large educational background in the natural sciences, he received a philosophy major from The University of Toronto in 1973. Cameron says of his time there that he was,

"completely self taught in special effects. I'd go down to the USC library and pull any theses that graduate students had written about optical printing, or front screen projection, or dye transfers, anything that related to film technology…if they'd let me photocopy it, I would. If not, I'd make notes."


After dropping out, he worked several jobs such as truck driving and wrote when he had time. After seeing the film Star Wars
Star Wars

Star Wars is an epic film space opera Media franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but later had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels....
 in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry. When Cameron read Syd Field
Syd Field

Syd Field is an United States writer who has become one of the most popular screenwriting gurus in the movie industry. Field has written several books on the subject of screenwriting, and occasionally holds workshops that help aspiring screenwriters to produce the kinds of screenplays that will sell in Hollywood....
's book Screenplay, it occurred to him that integrating science and art were possible and he wrote a ten minute science fiction script with two friends, entitled Xenogenesis. They raised money and rented a camera, lenses, the film stocks, studio and shot it in 35mm. To understand how to operate the camera, they dismantled it and spent the first half-day of the shoot trying to figure out how to get it running.

Early career

As Cameron continued educating himself in techniques, he started as a miniature model maker at Roger Corman Studios. Making fast, low-budget productions enabled Cameron to pick up the pace efficiently and effectively, soon becoming an art director in the sci-fi movie Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), and he did special effects work design and direction on John Carpenter's Escape from New York
Escape from New York

Escape from New York is a 1981 in film science fiction film/action film film director and Film score by John Carpenter. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle....
 (1981). He consulted on the design of Android (1981), and acted as production designer on Galaxy of Terror (1981).

Cameron was hired as the special effects director for the sequel of Piranha
Piranha

A piranha or pira?a is a member of a family of omnivorous freshwater fish which live in South American rivers. In Venezuelan rivers they are called caribes....
, entitled Piranha II: The Spawning
Piranha II: The Spawning

Piranha II: The Spawning is a 1981 in film horror movie, the sequel to the 1978 low-budget movie Piranha , and the feature-film directorial debut of James Cameron....
 in 1981. However, the director left the project and Cameron was hired by Italian producer Assonitis to take over, giving him his first directorial job. He worked with producer Roger Corman
Roger Corman

Roger William Corman , sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies , is a prolific United States film producer and film director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: his cycle of films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe for example....
. The interior scenes were filmed in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 while the underwater diving sequences were shot at Grand Cayman Island.

The movie was to be produced on Jamaica, but when Cameron arrived at the studio, he discovered his crew was comprised primarily of Italians who spoke no English and the project was under financed. Under duress, Cameron says he had a nightmare about an invisible robot hit man sent from the future to kill him, giving him the idea for The Terminator, which would later catapult his filming career.

Major films


The Terminator (1984)


After completing a screenplay for The Terminator
The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 in film Science fiction film/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn....
,
Cameron decided to sell it so that he could direct the movie. However, the production companies he contacted, while expressing interest in the project, were unwilling to let a first-time director make the movie. Finally, Cameron found a company called Hemdale Pictures, which was willing to let him direct. His soon-to-be-wife, Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd

Gale Anne Hurd is a Hollywood film producer.Hurd is the daughter of a Los Angeles businessman and grew up in Palm Springs, California. She formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, in 1982....
, who had started her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, had previously worked with Cameron in Roger Corman's company and agreed to buy Cameron's screenplay for one dollar, on the condition that Cameron direct the film. Hurd was signed on as producer, and Cameron finally got his first break as director. Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures

Orion Pictures Corporation was an United States company that produced film from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros....
 would distribute the film.

Initially, for the role of the Terminator, Cameron wanted someone who wasn't exceptionally muscular, and who could "blend into" a normal crowd. Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen

Lance James Henriksen is an United States actor, Painting, and pottery....
, who had starred in Piranha II: The Spawning, was considered for the titular role, but when Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and Politics of the United States, currently serving as the List of Governors of California Governor of California of the state of California....
 and Cameron first met over lunch to discuss Schwarzenegger playing the role of Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese

Kyle Reese is a main character fictional character in the The Terminator, the father of John Connor, and the brief lover of Sarah Connor . He is played by Michael Biehn in the films and Jonathan Jackson in the television series....
, both came to the conclusion that the cyborg villain would be the more compelling role for the Austrian bodybuilder; Henriksen got the smaller part of LAPD detective Hal Vukovich and the role of Kyle Reese went to Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn

Michael Connell Biehn is an United States actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood science fiction-action films such as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss....
. In addition, Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton

Linda Carroll Hamilton is a Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, best known for her roles as Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and as Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast ....
 first appeared in this film in her iconic role of Sarah Connor, and later married Cameron.

The Terminator
The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 in film Science fiction film/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn....
 was a box office hit, breaking expectations by Orion Pictures executives that the film would be regarded as no more than a sci-fi film, and only last a week in theaters. The film was low-budget ($6.5 million), but it earned over $78 million worldwide.

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)


During the early 1980s, Cameron wrote three screenplays simultaneously: The Terminator
The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 in film Science fiction film/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn....
, Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
, and the first draft of Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo: First Blood Part II

Rambo: First Blood Part II , released on May 22, 1985, is the second movie in the Rambo series, starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam war war veteran John Rambo....
. While Cameron would continue with The Terminator and with Aliens, Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an 48th Academy Awards-nominated American actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter....
 eventually took over the script of Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo: First Blood Part II

Rambo: First Blood Part II , released on May 22, 1985, is the second movie in the Rambo series, starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam war war veteran John Rambo....
, creating a final draft which differed radically from Cameron's initial version. Cameron was credited for his screenplay in the film's final credits.

Aliens (1986)

Gale Ann Hurd and James Cameron
Cameron next began the sequel to Alien
Alien (film)

Alien is a 1979 science fiction film/horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto....
, the 1979 film by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is a United Kingdom Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award and British Academy of Film and Television Arts winning film director and film producer known for his stylish visuals and an obsession for detail....
. Cameron would name the sequel Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
, and would again cast Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for her roles as Lt. Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies....
 in the iconic role of Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley

Lieutenant Ellen Ripley is a science fiction heroine, played by Sigourney Weaver. She is the protagonist of the Alien . The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender stereotypes, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date....
. According to Cameron, the crew on Aliens was hostile to him, regarding him as a poor substitute for Ridley Scott. Cameron sought to show them The Terminator but the majority of the crew refused and remained skeptical of his direction throughout production. Despite this and other off screen problems (such as clashing with an uncooperative camera man and having to replace one of the lead actors - Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn

Michael Connell Biehn is an United States actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood science fiction-action films such as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss....
 of Terminator took James Remar
James Remar

William James Remar is an United States actor. He has appeared in at least 98 different media projects including movies, video games, and TV shows....
's place as Corporal Hicks), Aliens became a box office success, and Sigourney Weaver received a nomination for Best Actress during the 1986 Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
. In addition, the film and its lead actress made the cover of Time Magazine
Time (magazine)

Time is a weekly United States newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. A European edition is published from London....
 as a result of its breakthrough feminist themes about women in combat. Following the phenomenal success of the film, Cameron now had more freedom to make whatever project he wanted.

The Abyss (1989)


Cameron's next project stemmed from an idea that had come up during a high school biology class. The story of oil-rig workers who discover otherworldly underwater creatures became the basis of Cameron's screenplay for The Abyss
The Abyss

The Abyss is a science fiction film that was written and directed by James Cameron in 1989 in film. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn....
, which cast Ed Harris
Ed Harris

'Edward Allen "Ed" Harris' is an United States actor, film writer and film director, known for his performances in Appaloosa , Radio , The Rock , The Right Stuff , Enemy at the Gates, The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross , Apollo 13 , Pollock , A Beautiful Mind, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Th...
, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an Academy Award-nominated United States actor and singer best known for her role as Carmen in The Color of Money, as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Gina Montana in Scarface , and Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves....
 and Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn

Michael Connell Biehn is an United States actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood science fiction-action films such as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss....
. Initially budgeted at $41 million U.S. (though the production ran considerably overbudget), it was considered to be one of the most expensive films of its time, and required cutting-edge effects technology. Because much of the film takes place underwater and the technology wasn't advanced enough to digitally create an underwater environment, Cameron chose to shoot much of the movie "reel-for-real", at depths of up to . For creation of the sets, the containment building of an unfinished nuclear power plant was converted, and two huge tanks were utilized. The main tank was filled with of water, and the second with . There, the cast and crew would reside for much of the shooting.

The Abyss opened on August 9, 1989 with $9.3 million in 2nd place at the boxoffice behind Parenthood. It ultimately earned $54.5 million domestically, $35.5 million in foreign markets and a mostly lukewarm response from critics. Cameron would later release a special edition version of the film in spring of 1993, restoring deleted scenes, including the film's climax as it had been originally conceived. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
: Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound. It won for Best Visual Effects. After the release of The Abyss, Cameron founded his own production company called Lightstorm Entertainment, which produced all of his subsequent films.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)


After the success of The Terminator, there had always been talks about a sequel to continue the story of Sarah Connor and her struggle against machines from the future. Although Cameron had come up with a core idea for the sequel, and Schwarzenegger expressed interest in continuing the story, there were still problems regarding who had the rights to the story, as well as the logistics of the special effects needed to make the sequel. Finally, in mid-1990, Mario Kassar
Mario Kassar

Mario Kassar is a film producer and industry executive whose projects are frequently in association with Andrew G. Vajna.Working for Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, he was executive producer of several movies starting with Escape to Victory in 1981....
 of Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures

'Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments' was an independent production company, that within a decade went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being made bankrupt by bombs such as Cutthroat Island and Showgirl...
 secured the rights to the sequel, allowing Cameron to greenlight production of the film, now called Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, commonly abbreviated as T2, is a action film-science fiction film directed, co-written and co-produced by James Cameron....
.

For the film, Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton

Linda Carroll Hamilton is a Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, best known for her roles as Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and as Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast ....
 reprised her iconic role of Sarah Connor. In addition, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and Politics of the United States, currently serving as the List of Governors of California Governor of California of the state of California....
 also returned in his role as The Terminator, called the Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101, but this time as a protector. Unlike the T-800, who is made of a metal endoskeleton, the new villain of the sequel, called the T-1000
T-1000

The T-1000 is a fictional android assassin featured as the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a Shapeshifting, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some scenes of the film....
, was a more advanced Terminator made of liquid metal, and with polymorphic abilities. The T-1000 would also be much less bulky than the T-800. For the role, Cameron cast Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick

Robert Patrick is a Saturn Award-winning United States film and television actor. His best known roles include John Doggett in The X-Files, Ray Cash in Walk the Line, Tom Ryan in The Unit and the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, a character that became a staple of popular culture....
, who was a sharp contrast to Schwarzenegger. Cameron explained, "I wanted someone who was extremely fast and agile. If the T-800 is a human Panzer tank, then the T-1000 is a Porsche."

Cameron had originally wanted to incorporate this advanced-model Terminator into the first film, but the special effects at the time were not advanced enough. The ground-breaking effects used in The Abyss to digitally realize the water tentacle convinced Cameron that his liquid metal villain was now possible.

TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures

TriStar Pictures, Inc. is a Film subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures....
 would distribute the film under a locked release date that was only about one year away from when shooting would begin. The movie, which was co-written by Cameron and his longtime friend, William Wisher, Jr., had to go from screenplay to finished film in just that amount of time. Like Cameron's previous film, it was one of the most expensive films of its era, with a budget of about $100 million. The biggest challenge of the movie was the special effects used in creating the T-1000. Nevertheless, the film was finished on time, and released to theaters on July 3, 1991.

Terminator 2, or T2, as it was abbreviated, broke box-office records (including the opening weekend record for an R-rated film), earning over $200 million domestically, and over $300 million overseas, and became the highest-grossing film of that year. It won four Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
: Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects, and Best Visual Effects.

James Cameron announced a third Terminator film many times during the 1990s, but without coming out with any finished scripts. Kassar and Vajna purchased the rights to the Terminator franchise from a bankruptcy sale of Carolco's assets. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, commonly abbreviated as T3, is a 2003 in film science fiction/action film film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken....
 was eventually made and released in July 2003 without Cameron's involvement. Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow

Jonathan Mostow is an United States film director, writer and producer.He is a director and screenwriter who quickly established himself as a purveyor of action-oriented films that have a deeper psychological investigative base....
 directed the film and Schwarzenegger returned as the Terminator.

Director James Cameron reunited with the main cast of Terminator 2 to film T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, an attraction at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan. It was released in 1996 and was a mini-sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The show is in two parts: a pre-show where a spokesperson talks about Cyberdyne and the main feature which has performers interacting with a 3-D movie.

True Lies (1994)


Before the release of T2, Schwarzenegger came to Cameron with the idea of making a remake of the French comedy titled La Totale. Titled True Lies
True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 in film Action film-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik....
, with filming begun after T2s release, the story revolves around a secret-agent spy
Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secrecy or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information....
 who leads a double life as a married man, whose wife believes he is a computer salesman. Schwarzenegger would be cast as the secret spy, named Harry Tasker, whose mission in the movie is to investigate and stop a plan by Arab terrorists to use nuclear weapons against the United States. Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American film actress and author of children's literature. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in many horror films early in her career such as Halloween , The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that covers many genr...
 would play Schwarzenegger's onscreen wife, with Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold (actor)

Thomas Duane "Tom" Arnold is an United States actor and comedian....
 cast as the secret agent's sidekick.

Cameron's
Lightstorm Entertainment signed on with Twentieth Century Fox for production of True Lies
True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 in film Action film-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik....
. Made on a budget of $115 million and released in 1994, the film earned $146 million in North America, and $232 million abroad.

Titanic (1997)

Cameron expressed interest in the famous sinking of the ship Titanic
RMS Titanic

The Royal Mail Ship Titanic was an Olympic class ocean liner superliner owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
. He decided to script and film his next project based on this event. The picture revolved around a fictional romance story between two young lovers from different social classes who meet onboard the ship's maiden, and final, voyage. Before production began, he took dives to the bottom of the Atlantic and shot actual footage of the ship underwater, which he would insert into the final film.

For the film
Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
, Cameron cast Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor, film producer whose career rose with his role in the television sit-com Growing Pains and quickly moved to films....
, Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet

'Kate Elizabeth Winslet' is an English people Actor and occasional singing. She is noted for having played diverse characters over her career, but probably best-known for her critically acclaimed performances as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility , Titanic #Cast in Titanic , Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Sp...
, and Billy Zane
Billy Zane

William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor and film director. He is best recognized for his role as List_of_characters_in_Titanic_#Fictional_characters in the 1997 Blockbuster film Titanic , as the deranged psychopath Hughie Warriner in Dead Calm , John Justice Wheeler in Twin Peaks, as The Phantom in the 1996 The Pha...
. Cameron's budget for the film reached about $200 million, and it became the most expensive movie ever made. Before its release, the film was widely ridiculed for its expense and protracted production schedule.

Released to theaters on December 19, 1997,
Titanic opened with $28 million on its first weekend. The film's grosses escalated in the next several weeks. Titanic was one of very few modern, big-budget movies to gross more in their second weekend than their first. Its gross increased from $28.6 million to $35.4 million from week 1 to week 2, an increase of 23.8%, unheard of for a wide release, and a testament to the appeal of the movie. This was especially noteworthy, considering that the film's running time of more than three hours limited the number of showings each theater could schedule. It held the #1 spot on the box-office charts for months, eventually grossing a total of over $600 million domestically and more than $1.8 billion worldwide. Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
became the highest grossing film of all time. (Adjusting for inflation, the film brought in the sixth-highest domestic (U.S. only) gross of all time.) The CG visuals surrounding the sinking and destruction of the ship were considered spectacular. During the 1998 Academy Awards, the film won a record-tying 11 Oscars. Among them were Best Picture and Best Director.

Spider-Man and Dark Angel (2000–2002)


Cameron had initially next planned to do a film of the comic book character Spider-Man
Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character First appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 , and was created by scripter-editor Stan Lee and artist-plotter Steve Ditko....
, a project developed by Menahem Golan
Menahem Golan

Menahem Golan , born Menahem Globus on May 31, 1929 in Tiberias, British Mandate of Palestine , is an Israeli Film director and Film producer who is most famous for his association with Golan-Globus, a company he ran with his cousin Yoram Globus....
 of Cannon Films. Disputes arose focusing on Golan's role in the Carolco project.

A screenplay dating back to 1989 exists with Cameron's name appended to it, indicating erroneously he worked with a series of writers on the project (John Brancato, Barry [sic: Barney] Cohen, Joseph Goldmari [sic: "Joseph Goldman", Menahem Golan's pen name] and Ted Newsom
Ted Newsom

Ted Newsom is an United States writer, director, producer and actor....
), but the script was identical to one presented to Columbia Pictures by Golan in 1988, where the project had been in development (Cameron never worked with these writers at all).

Subsequent to the delivery of this script to Carolco, Cameron presented a 45-page
Spider-Man screen story to Carolco, which bore substantive similarities to a number of earlier screenplay drafts, particularly one written by Ethan Wiley (writer House and writer/director of House 2).

When Carolco went into bankruptcy, all previous "Spider-Man" scripts were acquired by MGM-UA, including the "Cameron material",
i.e., both the multi-author screenplay and the later treatment credited solely to Cameron. MGM in turn sold the material to Columbia Pictures in exchange for Columbia dropping their plans to do an alternative James Bond
James Bond

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections....
 series based on the Kevin McClory
Kevin McClory

Kevin O'Donovan McClory was an Republic of Ireland screenwriter, film producer, and film director. McClory was best known for the 1983 in film James Bond film Never Say Never Again, which was the result of a long legal battle between McClory and Ian Fleming over the writing credits and later the film rights to Thunderball ....
 Bond material.

Columbia hired David Koepp
David Koepp

David Koepp is an United States screenwriter and film director....
 to adapt Cameron's treatment into a screenplay, and Koepp's first draft is taken often word-for-word from Cameron's story, though later drafts were heavily rewritten by Koepp himself, Scott Rosenberg, Alvin Sargent
Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent is a multiple award-winning United States screenwriter....
 (husband of producer Laura Ziskin
Laura Ziskin

Laura Ziskin is a Jewish American film producer....
), and (allegedly) Ivan Raimi
Ivan Raimi

Ivan Raimi is an United States screenwriter and doctor of Osteopathic medicine in the United States.Raimi, the third of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Celia Barbara , who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi, who owned home furnishing stores....
, brother of director Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi

Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, film producer, actor and screenwriter.He is best known for directing the cult classic horror film The Evil Dead and the Blockbuster Spider-Man film series....
.

Columbia preferred to credit David Koepp solely, and none of the scripts before or after his were ever examined by the Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East

Writers Guild of America, East is a trade union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....
 to determine proper credit attribution. Cameron and other writers objected, but Columbia and the WGA prevailed. In its release in 2002,
Spider-Man
Spider-Man (film)

Spider-Man is a 2002 in film American superhero film based on the fictional character Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film is the first in the Spider-Man ....
had its screenplay credited solely to Koepp.

Unable to make
Spider-Man, Cameron moved to television and created the story of Max Guevara
Max Guevara

Max Guevara is a fictional character in the cyberpunk science fiction television program Dark Angel . She is portrayed by Jessica Alba as an adult and Geneva Locke as a child....
, a new superheroine
Superhero

A superhero is a Character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to act of derring-do in the public interest". Since the debut of the prototype superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes?ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas?have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other mass...
.
Dark Angel was influenced by cyberpunk
Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low-life". The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk subculture and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983, It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coup...
, biopunk
Biopunk

Biopunk is a term used to describe:#A hobbyist who experiments with DNA and other aspects of genetics.#A techno-progressive movement advocating open access to genetic information....
, current superhero genres, and third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism

Third-wave feminism is a term identified with several diverse strains of Feminism activity and study beginning in the early 1990s.The movement arose as a response to perceived possible failures and backlash against initiatives and movements created by second-wave feminism of Circa 1960s through the 1980s....
:

After the Sarah Connors and Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley

Lieutenant Ellen Ripley is a science fiction heroine, played by Sigourney Weaver. She is the protagonist of the Alien . The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender stereotypes, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date....
s of the eighties, the nineties weren't so kind to the superwoman format --
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena: Warrior Princess is an United States television series that aired from September 15, 1995 until June 18, 2001. The series was produced by Renaissance Pictures in association with Universal Studios....
excepted. But it's a new millennium now, and while Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels (film)

Charlie's Angels is a 2000 in film American Action film–comedy film, co-produced by Columbia Pictures, Global Entertainment Productions, Tall Tree Productions and Drew Barrymore's Flower Films and directed by McG....
and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese-language film in the wuxia style, released in 2000. A China-Hong Kong-Taiwan-United States coproduction , the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of Zhonghua minzu actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen....
are kicking up a storm on movie screens, it's been down to James Cameron to bring empowered female warriors back to television screens. And tellingly, Cameron has done it by mixing the sober feminism of his The Terminator
The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 in film Science fiction film/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn....
and Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
characters with the sexed-up Girl Power
Girl Power

The phrase "Girl Power" is a term of empowerment, expressed a Cultural studies of the mid-late 1990s to the early 2000s, and is also linked to third-wave feminism....
 of a Britney Spears
Britney Spears

'Britney Jean Spears' is a Grammy Awards-winning American pop music singer, dancer, actress, and glamour model.Raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Louisiana, Spears first appeared on national television in 1992 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club#199...
 concert. The result is
Dark Angel, a weekly action series that's burning up the ratings on America's Fox Network and has recently premiered in the UK.


Co-produced with Charles H. Eglee
Charles H. Eglee

Charles H. Eglee is a Hollywood writer and producer. He grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and Eastham, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. in English from Yale University....
,
Dark Angel
Dark Angel (TV series)

Dark Angel is an United States biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television program created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. Dark Angel premiered in the United States and Canada on the Fox Broadcasting Company network on October 3, 2000, but was cancellation after two seasons....
starred Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba

Jessica Marie Alba is an United States television and film actor. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack ....
 as Max Guevara
Max Guevara

Max Guevara is a fictional character in the cyberpunk science fiction television program Dark Angel . She is portrayed by Jessica Alba as an adult and Geneva Locke as a child....
, a genetically enhanced
Genetic engineering

Engineering There are a number of ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has five main steps# Isolation of the genes of interest...
 transgenic super-soldier created by the super-secretive Manticore organization. It also starred Michael Weatherly
Michael Weatherly

Michael Manning Weatherly, Jr. is an United States actor, best known for his role as Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo on the CBS show NCIS....
 as Logan Cale, and noted actor John Savage
John Savage (actor)

----John Savage is an American film actor, Film producer, production manager, and composer....
 (of
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter is a War film drama film about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War....
) as Colonel Donald Michael Lydecker; the second season finale also guest starred Amy Dumas
Amy Dumas

Amy Christine Dumas , known for her primary stage name "Lita" is an United States former professional wrestling, WWE Diva and lead singer for the band The Luchagors....
. While a success in its first season, low ratings in the second led to its cancellation. Cameron himself directed the series finale, a two-hour episode wrapping up many of the series' loose ends.

Documentarian and 3-D film advocate (2002–present)


Cameron's recent projects have included undersea documentaries on the
Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck

Hide header=|Header caption=|Ship class=|Ship displacement=41,700 tonnes standard 50,900 tonnes full load|Ship length= overall waterline...
 (
Expedition: Bismarck
Expedition: Bismarck

Expedition: Bismarck is a 2002 in film documentary film produced for the Discovery Channel by Andrew Wight and James Cameron, directed by James Cameron and Gary Johnstone, and narrated by Lance Henriksen....
, 2002) and the Titanic
RMS Titanic

The Royal Mail Ship Titanic was an Olympic class ocean liner superliner owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
 (
Ghosts of the Abyss
Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 in film documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic ....
(2003, in IMAX 3D), and Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson

Tony Robinson is an England actor, broadcasting and political campaigner, best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History....
's Titanic Adventure (2005)). He was a producer on the 2002 film Solaris
Solaris (2002 film)

Solaris is a 2002 in film film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney.It is based on Solaris by Poles writer Stanislaw Lem ....
, and narrated The Exodus Decoded.

Cameron is a leading advocate for stereoscopic digital
Digital

A digital system uses discrete values, usually but not always symbolized numerically to represent information for input, processing, transmission, storage, etc....
 3-D
3-D film

In film, the term 3-D is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the optical illusion of depth as seen by the viewer....
 films. In a 2003 interview about his IMAX 3D documentary Ghosts of the Abyss
Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 in film documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic ....
, he mentioned that he is "going to do everything in 3D now". He has made similar statements in other interviews.
Ghosts of the Abyss
Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 in film documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic ....
and Aliens of the Deep
Aliens of the Deep

Aliens of the Deep is a 2005 in film documentary film, directed in part by Academy Awards-winner James Cameron and filmed in the IMAX 3D format....
(also an IMAX documentary) were shot in 3-D, as will his next projects, Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
, The Dive, Sanctum and an adaptation of the manga
Manga

, , are comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after World War II, but they have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art....
 series
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita

Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine....
. He is currently filming Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
, his first film since 1997's Titanic. Cameron sees Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
and Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita

Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine....
as a "three film cycle". See Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
and Battle Angel below.

He is co-rewriting the screenplay for a high-definition 3-D live-action deep-sea-diving drama entitled
James Cameron's Sanctum, to be produced by himself and directed by Gary Johnstone. Sanctum will have a relatively-low starting budget of about $20 million.

In addition, he plans to create a 3-D project about the first trip to Mars
MARS

In cryptography, MARS is a block cipher that was IBM's submission to the Advanced Encryption Standard process. MARS was selected as an AES finalist in August 1999, after the AES2 conference in March 1999, where it was voted as the fifth and last finalist algorithm....
. ("I've been very interested in the Humans to Mars movement—the 'Mars Underground'—and I've done a tremendous amount of personal research for a novel, a miniseries, and a 3-D film.") He is on the science team for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory is a NASA rover scheduled to be launched between October and December 2011 and perform the first-ever precision landing on Mars....
.

Cameron announced on February 26, 2007, that he, along with his director, Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici

Simcha Jacobovici is an Israel-born Canada controversial film director and producer. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from McGill University and an M.A....
, have documented the unearthing of the Talpiot Tomb
Talpiot Tomb

The Talpiot Tomb is a tomb discovered in 1980 in the East Talpiot neighborhood, five kilometers south of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. It contained ten ossuary, six of them with Epigraphys, including one with the inscription that has been interpreted as "Jesus, son of Joseph", though this text is disputed....
, which is alleged to be the tomb of Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
. Unearthed in 1980 by Israeli construction workers, the names on the tomb are claimed, by Cameron, to correlate with the names of Jesus and several individuals closely associated with him. Cameron further claims to have DNA tests, archaeological evidence, and Biblical studies to back up his claim. The documentary, named
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
The Lost Tomb of Jesus

The Lost Tomb of Jesus is a Documentary film co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007 covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb....
, was broadcast on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel

The Discovery Channel is an United States satellite and cable TV channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications....
 on March 4, 2007.

Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson (band)

Marilyn Manson is an American rock music band founded in the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Advocates of nonconformity and iconoclasm, often utilizing controversial imagery and lyrical content, it is difficult to categorize the band, however, as each album thus far has had a distinct and individual sound, and the band and frontman endeavor...
 made a 3D video for the first single from their album
Eat Me, Drink Me
Eat Me, Drink Me

Eat Me, Drink Me is Marilyn Manson 's sixth studio album, released worldwide on June 5, 2007. Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded in a rented home-recording studio in Hollywood, California by lead vocalist Marilyn Manson and guitarist and bass guitarist Tim Skold....
, "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)
Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)

"Heart-Shaped Glasses " is Marilyn Manson 's first Single from the studio album Eat Me, Drink Me released on June 5, 2007. Initially, "Putting Holes In Happiness" was set as the first single from the album, but this was changed, similar to the case of "Get Your Gunn"....
", which is an extract from a 3D horror movie which Manson will continue filming at the beginning of 2008 with James Cameron.

Avatar and Battle Angel (present)

See also "Documentarian and 3-D film Advocate" - Above

In June 2005, director Cameron was announced to be working on a project tentatively titled "Project 880" (now known to be
Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
) in parallel with another project, Battle Angel. Both movies were to be shot in 3D. By December, Cameron stated that he wanted to film Battle Angel first, followed by Avatar. However in February 2006, he switched goals for the two film projects and decided to film Avatar first. He mentioned that if both films are successful, he would be interested in seeing a trilogy being made for both.

Avatar, previously known as Project 880, has an estimated budget of $200 million, is a 3D film currently set for a December 18, 2009 release, and will mark his first feature film since 1997's Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
. It will be composed almost entirely of computer-generated animation, using a more advanced version of the "performance capture" technique used by director Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis

Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American film director, Film producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future trilogy films as well as the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , though in t...
 in
The Polar Express
The Polar Express (film)

The Polar Express is a 2004 in film Academy Awards-nominated film based on the The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.The film, written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, is entirely live action using performance capture technology, which incorporates the movements of live actors into animated characters....
. James Cameron wrote an 80 page scriptment
Scriptment

A scriptment is a Film treatment of a film or a TV show that is more elaborate than a standard draft treatment. The term scriptment was originally coined by film maker James Cameron, possibly during his early involvement in the development of the Spider-Man film series film series....
 for
Avatar in 1995 and announced in 1996 that he would make the film after completing Titanic. In December 2006, Cameron explained that the delay in producing the film since the 1990s had been to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough. The director is planning to create photo-realistic computer-generated characters through motion capture animation technology using his new virtual camera system. The film was originally scheduled to be released in May 2009 but was pushed back to December 2009 to allow more time for post production on the complex photorealistic CGI
Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, Television commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media....
 and to give more time for theatres worldwide to install 3D projectors.

James Cameron will also be writing, producing and directing Battle Angel, a live-action adaptation of the first three volumes of the manga series. Alita will be a CG character performed by an actress. Like Avatar, the film will be a mix of CG and live action. Filming will be made with the new digital 3D system Cameron has developed for Avatar. In January 2005, Cameron mentioned that the delay in making this film initially had been to wait until a sufficient number of theatres had installed 3D projectors. Pre-production on this film has been occurring since at least 2004-05. As with Avatar, the movie will be marketed and distributed by 20th Century Fox worldwide. Cameron is aiming for a PG-13 rating. Laeta Kalogridis
Laeta Kalogridis

Laeta Kalogridis is a screenwriter. She has written scripts for Alexander , Night Watch , Pathfinder , and Ashecliffe . She has also served as an executive producer for the television series Birds of Prey and Bionic Woman ....
 wrote the original script but Cameron is re-writing the script.

"The Dive" (future)

The Dive - James Cameron is set to go back underwater with "The Dive" as he will direct the movie, which is based on the true love story of two divers, Cuban-born Francisco "Pipín" Ferreras
Francisco Ferreras (free-diver)

Francisco Rodriguez, better known as Francisco 'Pipin' Ferreras is a Cuban free-diving renowned for his achievements in deep freediving....
 and French-born Audrey Mestre
Audrey Mestre

Audrey Mestre was a france world record-setting Free-diving....
. Screenwriter Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens

Dana Stevens is a screenwriter and television writer/producer.She wrote the screenplays of the films For Love of the Game and City of Angels....
 has been hired to work on the script to "The Dive," with Cameron producing the movie along with his partners Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini. According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Cameron purchased the rights to Francisco Ferreras' life story as well as a story from Sports Illustrated on Ferreras.

Online news reports in 2002 quoted actress Eliza Dushku as saying there was going to be a sequel on "True Lies
True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 in film Action film-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik....
" reuniting the original cast and writer/director James Cameron. Cameron originally planned on making "True Lies 2" for sometime in 2002 (according to Moviehole.net) - but put his plans on hold once the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in NYC, claiming that "in this day and age, terrorism isn't funny."

Awards

Cameron received the Bradbury Award
Nebula Award

The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years ....
 from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA , was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. The organization has since changed its name to Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., but continues with the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the acronym SFFWA....
 in 1991—but, being primarily thought of as a genre filmmaker, he did not receive any major mainstream filmmaking awards prior to
Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
. With
Titanic, Cameron received the Academy Awards for Best Editing (shared with Conrad Buff
Conrad Buff

Conrad Buff is an American film editor with more than 25 film credits since 1985. Buff has won an Academy Award for Film Editing#1990s and an American Cinema Editors for Titanic ; the awards were shared with his co-editors James Cameron and Richard A....
 and Richard A. Harris
Richard A. Harris

Richard A. Harris is a multi-award-winning film editor with a career spanning nearly forty years. He graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts of the University of Southern California in 1956....
), Best Picture (shared with Jon Landau
Jon Landau (film producer)

Jon Landau is an United States film producer. He is best known for producing Titanic , a film which won him an Academy Award. Throughout the early '90s, Landau was Executive Vice President of Feature Film Production at Twentieth Century Fox....
), and Best Director. He also won a Golden Globe for best director for the film.

In recognition of his contributions to underwater filming and remote vehicle technology, the University of Southampton
University of Southampton

The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley....
 awarded Cameron the honorary degree
Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements . The degree itself is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the institution in question....
 of Doctor of the University. Cameron received his degree in person at the graduation
Graduation

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates....
 ceremony in July, 2004.

On June 3, 2008, it was announced that he would be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame

Canada's Walk of Fame, located in Toronto, Ontario, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians....
.




Recurring cast members

Cameron often casts certain actors more than once in his films. Cameron has consistently worked with Bill Paxton
Bill Paxton

William Archibald Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his Movie star roles in the movies Apollo 13 and Twister ....
 (who also narrated
Ghosts of the Abyss
Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 in film documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic ....
), Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn

Michael Connell Biehn is an United States actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood science fiction-action films such as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss....
, Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen

Lance James Henriksen is an United States actor, Painting, and pottery....
 (who also narrated
Expedition: Bismarck
Expedition: Bismarck

Expedition: Bismarck is a 2002 in film documentary film produced for the Discovery Channel by Andrew Wight and James Cameron, directed by James Cameron and Gary Johnstone, and narrated by Lance Henriksen....
), and Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein

Jenette Elise Goldstein is a Saturn Award-winning United States actor....
. In addition to starring in the
Terminator films, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and Politics of the United States, currently serving as the List of Governors of California Governor of California of the state of California....
 also starred in
True Lies
True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 in film Action film-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik....
. In February 2007, Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for her roles as Lt. Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies....
 was cast for Cameron's upcoming film
Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
after having worked with him on Aliens as lead actress.

Actor Piranha II: The Spawning
Piranha II: The Spawning

Piranha II: The Spawning is a 1981 in film horror movie, the sequel to the 1978 low-budget movie Piranha , and the feature-film directorial debut of James Cameron....
(1981)
The Terminator
The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 in film Science fiction film/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn....
(1984)
Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
(1986)
The Abyss
The Abyss

The Abyss is a science fiction film that was written and directed by James Cameron in 1989 in film. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn....
(1989)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, commonly abbreviated as T2, is a action film-science fiction film directed, co-written and co-produced by James Cameron....
(1991)
True Lies
True Lies

True Lies is a 1994 in film Action film-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik....
(1994)
Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 United States romantic film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic....
(1997)
Avatar
Avatar (film)

Avatar is an upcoming 3-D film science fiction film directed by James Cameron, due to be released on December 18, 2009....
(2009)
Bill Paxton
Bill Paxton

William Archibald Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his Movie star roles in the movies Apollo 13 and Twister ....
 
Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn

Michael Connell Biehn is an United States actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood science fiction-action films such as The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss....
*  
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen

Lance James Henriksen is an United States actor, Painting, and pottery....
 
Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein

Jenette Elise Goldstein is a Saturn Award-winning United States actor....
 
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and Politics of the United States, currently serving as the List of Governors of California Governor of California of the state of California....
 
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, best known for her roles as Lt. Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies....


* his reprised role of Reese was cut from the theatrical release, but restored in the DVD's Special Edition Version.

Recurring themes

Throughout Cameron's career, several of his films have had recurring themes and subtexts. These include: the prospects of nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust

Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of nearly complete annhilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is rendered uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
 (the Skynet takeover scenario from both
Terminator films and a proposed "solution" in Aliens
Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction film/action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Paxton....
), attempts to reconcile humanity
Humanity

Humanity is the whole human species, human nature , and the human condition . It is also the study of one branch of the humanities, academic disciplines which study the human condition using analytic, critical, or speculative methods....
 with technology
Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
 (as seen in
Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, commonly abbreviated as T2, is a action film-science fiction film directed, co-written and co-produced by James Cameron....
), two protagonists who face impossible odds and work together to achieve their goals, strong female characters (Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor

Sarah Connor may refer to:*Sarah Connor , German pop/R&B/soul singer-songwriter**Sarah Connor , 2004 album by the singer above*Sarah Connor , fictional character in the Terminator films...
 and Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley

Lieutenant Ellen Ripley is a science fiction heroine, played by Sigourney Weaver. She is the protagonist of the Alien . The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender stereotypes, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to date....
 being the most famous) and an undercurrent of feminism.

While
The Abyss
The Abyss

The Abyss is a science fiction film that was written and directed by James Cameron in 1989 in film. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn....
dealt with deep sea exploration (shot on a studio set), Cameron himself became an expert in the field of deep sea wreckage exploration exploring the wreckage of Titanic
RMS Titanic

The Royal Mail Ship Titanic was an Olympic class ocean liner superliner owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
and Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck

Hide header=|Header caption=|Ship class=|Ship displacement=41,700 tonnes standard 50,900 tonnes full load|Ship length= overall waterline...
.

Filmography


Personal life

Cameron has been married five times: Sharon Williams (1978–1984), Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd

Gale Anne Hurd is a Hollywood film producer.Hurd is the daughter of a Los Angeles businessman and grew up in Palm Springs, California. She formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, in 1982....
 (1985–1989), Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow is an American film director. Some of the genres represented in her wide variety of films include science fiction, Action movie and Horror film....
 (1989–1991), Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton

Linda Carroll Hamilton is a Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, best known for her roles as Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and as Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast ....
 (1997–1999, one daughter), Suzy Amis
Suzy Amis

Suzy Amis is an American film actor and former model....
 (2000-, one son, two daughters). Cameron is very distantly related to actress Joanna Cameron
Joanna Cameron

Joanna Kara Cameron, sometimes presented as JoAnna Cameron, is an American actress who appeared in several television shows, such as The Secrets of Isis and The Amazing Spider-Man ....
 who starred as Isis on tv in the 1970s.

He has been described by one collaborator, author Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an United States author, critic and public speaking. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction....
, as selfish and cruel. When asked about working with Cameron on the novelization of
The Abyss, Card said the experience was

"...hell on wheels. He was very nice to me, because I could afford to walk away. But he made everyone around him miserable, and his unkindness did nothing to improve the film in any way. Nor did it motivate people to work faster or better. And unless he changes his way of working with people, I hope he never directs anything of mine."


After working with Cameron on the set of Titanic, Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet

'Kate Elizabeth Winslet' is an English people Actor and occasional singing. She is noted for having played diverse characters over her career, but probably best-known for her critically acclaimed performances as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility , Titanic #Cast in Titanic , Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Sp...
 decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money." She admitted Cameron was a nice man, but had too much of a temper.

Cameron has a famously explosive temper. In an editorial, the British newspaper
The Independent
The Independent

The Independent is a United Kingdom Compact newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media. It is nicknamed the Indy, with the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, being the Sindy....
described his directing as tyrannical:

"[James Cameron] is a nightmare to work with. Studios have come to fear his habit of straying way over schedule and over budget. He is notorious on set for his uncompromising and dictatorial manner, as well as his flaming temper. "


Cameron is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and is working on the project to get cameras on the pending manned Mars
MARS

In cryptography, MARS is a block cipher that was IBM's submission to the Advanced Encryption Standard process. MARS was selected as an AES finalist in August 1999, after the AES2 conference in March 1999, where it was voted as the fifth and last finalist algorithm....
 mission.

In late October 2007, Cameron, along with singers Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire is an England, Australian singer and actor. She is an avid activist for both environmentalism issues and breast cancer awareness....
 and Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker

Tanya Denise Tucker is an American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood without losing her audience, and during the course of her career, she notched a streak of Top Ten and Top 40 hits....
, were ordered out of their Malibu
Malibu, California

Malibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population is 12,575....
 homes due to the pending threat of the Witch Fire in Southern California.

Appearances

  • Entourage
    Entourage (TV series)

    Entourage is an HBO original series created by Doug Ellin that chronicles the rise of Vincent Chase ? a young A-list movie star ? and his childhood friends from Queens, New York City as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, California....
In Entourage, Cameron appeared as himself as the director of the film Aquaman. Cameron's involvement in the project attracted Vincent Chase to the title role.
  • The Muse
    The Muse (film)

    The Muse is a 1999 in film starring Albert Brooks and Sharon Stone....
  • Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live

    Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975....
  • La Cité de la peur
    La Cité de la peur

    La Cit? de la peur, or Le film de Les Nuls, is a France comedy film written by the comedy group Les Nuls and directed by Alain Berb?rian in 1994....
     He also appeared as himself in 1994 a french comedy.


Quotes

  • "I think the most important thing if you're an aspiring film-maker is to get rid of the 'aspiring'... You shoot it, you put your name on it, you're a film-maker. Everything after that, you're just negotiating your budget."
  • "I love working with 3-D cameras. I don't want to go back to shooting on film. I don't want to go back to shooting in 2-D."
  • "People call me a perfectionist, but I'm not. I'm a rightist. I do something until it's right, and then I move on to the next thing."
  • "I shoot films. I occasionally shoot actors as well if they disobey me".


External links

  • James Cameron at