James Cameron has tied himself to directing a large portion of the Avatar franchise in the future, but he still would like to find time to direct a different project prior to starting on Avatar 4.
Speaking to LA Times, Cameron said that while the upcoming third Avatar movie is at the forefront of his mind, he would like to direct the adaptation to Charles R. Pellegrino’s nonfiction novel The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Lost Book prior to working on Avatar 4.
“We live in a more precarious world than we thought we did,” said Cameron of the movie’s significance. “I think the Hiroshima film would be as timely as ever, if not more so. It reminds people what these weapons really do when they’re used against human targets.”
Cameron’s connection to a film adaptation of the book has been a long one. More than 10 years ago, in 2010, Cameron optioned the rights to make a film based on the book.
The novel documents life in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the times preceding, during, and following the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Japan by the United States. The story mainly focuses on various survivors of the bombings, including Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only person who has been verified to have survived the impact of both attacks.
While nothing is known about the production status of that film, Cameron does seem to be extremely busy as of late. The legendary director recently released the highly anticipated sequel to Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water.
Cameron also filmed the third film, titled Avatar 3 as of now, which was done simultaneously with The Way of Water. The fourth and fifth Avatar movies are also in various stages of production and are currently slated to be released on December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028, respectively.