People throw the word visionary around a little liberally nowadays. Well, people have diluted a host of words through overuse, but visionary is a specifically bizarre one. Throughout history, you can count the number of people who were true visionaries in their field on both hands. In the world of filmmaking, James Cameron fits the description beautifully.
Cameron has become obsessed with using the craft of filmmaking to innovate new technology and approaches to film. Sometimes his dedication to innovation has hampered the actual narrative of his films, but Cameron's creative energy more than compensates for his formulaic plots. One of the critical complaints levied against the original Avatar was how uninspired its story was. Although the complaint is a fair one, it neglects Cameron's intentions. He's always looking toward what film can be.
In the vein of trying to stay ahead of the curve, Cameron has admitted that he went ahead and filmed some scenes for Avatar three and four, should the need arise.
As Avatar: The Way of Water continues to blow up worldwide, James Cameron has indicated he's game-planning far into the future.
Writer-director Cameron has told Entertainment Weekly that he's shot scenes from a proposed Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 concurrently with the recently released sequel.
He did so to avoid having the younger cast members age-out.
The Way of Water introduces Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, who was 7 years old when cast and is now 13) and Spider (Jack Champion, who was 12 when cast, but is now 18). Because Champion was "growing like a weed," the second, third, and first act of the fourth movie had to be done in one production, Cameron said.
