Forget Avatar 4: James Cameron Is Eyeing a Bold Sci-Fi Reboot Next
With Avatar: Fire and Ash nearing release, James Cameron may be poised to sidestep Avatar 4 for a secretive sci‑fi reboot that returns to one of his earliest worlds.
James Cameron is about to drop Avatar: Fire and Ash, but he is already eyeing a return to the killer-robot playground that made him a name in the first place. If you were expecting him to leap straight into Avatar 4, well, maybe not.
So, is Cameron really going back to Terminator?
Yes, that is the plan he is talking about publicly. While doing press for Avatar: Fire and Ash, Cameron told Gizmodo he is actively cooking up a new Terminator movie and already has a fat stack of notes. He is not directing yet, he is writing first — and he sounds determined to make that the focus once Avatar 3 is out the door marketing-wise.
"I have got a stack of notes this thick" — he gestured about three inches — "on what I want to do with a new Terminator film. I am going to pour myself into that as a writer."
Timing-wise, he says the writing sprint starts after the Avatar: Fire and Ash promo cycle wraps: once the marketing is done "in a month or so," he will sit down, write, and figure out what order the next projects actually happen in.
The tricky part: the future is already here
Cameron is fully aware that rebooting Terminator in 2025 is not the same as inventing it in 1984. His point is basically: the world caught up to his old sci-fi thought experiments, and then sped past them. We are already living in the kind of tech anxiety that used to be strictly movie stuff, which makes predicting the next few years a lot harder.
"We are living in a science fiction world... I will never be as prescient as I was back in 1984... but I at least want to future-proof myself by being a couple years out."
Translation: expect him to step back, take a breath, and try to design a Terminator story that will still make sense when it finally hits theaters, not just right this second.
What else is on his board?
He is not short on options. Alongside the possible Terminator revival, Cameron mentioned he is weighing a World War II film centered on atomic bombs and an adaptation of the book The Devils. And yes, the Avatar machine is still humming — there are two more sequels waiting in the wings beyond Fire and Ash.
- New Terminator movie: Cameron writing after Avatar 3 marketing wraps; wants to 'future-proof' the story
- WWII atomic-bomb project: under consideration
- The Devils: book adaptation he is eyeing
- Avatar sequels: two more planned after Fire and Ash
Bottom line
Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters December 19. After that, do not be surprised if Cameron disappears into a writing bunker and tries to crack a Terminator that feels relevant in a world where the headlines already sound like sci-fi. If he pulls it off, that is a real-deal pivot — not another detour, but a full return to the franchise that launched him.