James Cameron’s films have had tremendous monetary success worldwide, but the director has decided to film the sequels to his 2009 mega-hit, “Avatar,” right here in the U.S. The director hopes that shooting in the U.S. will provide employment options for out-of-work Americans, particular visual effects artists.
The movies, due out in December 2014 and December 2015, will create jobs for struggling artists who are rarely offered such prestigious positions due to such technically-advanced films typically being shot overseas.
“It’s absolutely going to generate jobs. There is a plethora of visual effects artists and a lot of them are out of work right now, so it’s a really great place to get a lot of talented people,” Peter Gend, visual effects instructor at the Art Institute of California in Los Angeles told Fox411. “What goes into his motion capture process is really different than what anyone else does.”
Cameron’s fellow producer of the ‘Avatar’ film series, Jon Landau, told reporters more than 700 jobs will be created for the productions, which he promised will be “bigger and better than ever.”
Cameron spoke about the pressure that comes with creating sequels to the highest grossing film of all-time.
“There’s always an expectation. I had to deal with that after ‘The Terminator’ back in 1984. All of a sudden I had a big hit movie and it was ‘what are you doing next?’ But my job is take the audience on a journey and entertain them,” Cameron said. “The second I am sitting down writing, I just go to Pandora. I don’t think about that stuff, about standing on a red carpet. It has its own life, really. The characters have their own lives.”
Speaking of “The Terminator,” Cameron briefly discussed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal problems as of late.
“He and I have spoken a lot,” said Cameron. “You have to stand by your friends. He and I have talked and I said, ‘look man, I stand by you.’ He doesn’t need my advice. He knows how to manage his image and to say what he needs to say, and he’s going to say it on his own terms when he is ready. It is that simple.”
Cameron will begin production on the first “Avatar” sequel this fall. The plot of the first sequel will focus on the ocean of Pandora, and will continue to follow the characters of Jake and Neytiri.