James Cameron Just Tapped a New Director for the Fantastic Voyage Remake

After years circling a remake of Fantastic Voyage, James Cameron has lined up another director and expects the long-delayed project to finally move forward within the next year.

Fantastic Voyage refuses to die. After decades of starts and stops, James Cameron says he is quietly moving the long-gestating remake forward again. Yes, still. And this time, he sounds confident.

So, what is Cameron saying now?

In a new interview with Deadline, Cameron said he is actively pushing the project down the runway again.

I am working with a director on a new script and I think it could move forward in a big way this coming year.

That is about as bullish as he gets without announcing a start date.

The road so far (and why this thing keeps popping back up)

• This remake has lived in development hell for decades, with Cameron sticking around as producer the whole time.
• At different points, he worked on it with Roland Emmerich, and later lined up Shawn Levy to direct.
• David S. Goyer was hired to write the script.
• For a while, Goyer and Cameron teamed with Guillermo del Toro and actually tried to get it into production. It never crossed the starting line.

Quick refresher on the 1966 original

Richard Fleischer directed from a script by Harry Kleiner, Jerome Bixby, Otto Klement, and David Duncan. The plot is pure high-concept sci-fi: a brilliant scientist, Jan Benes, figures out how to shrink people and objects for short bursts. He is brought out of the Soviet Union by the CIA, gets attacked on the way, and ends up with a blood clot in his brain. The Hail Mary: a team in a nuclear sub is miniaturized, injected into his body, and given a limited window to dissolve the clot and escape before they grow back to normal size inside him. The cast included Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'Connell, William Redfield, Arthur Kennedy, and Jean Del Val.

Goyer still wants back in

Earlier this year, David S. Goyer said he would love to revive the version he developed with Cameron and del Toro. According to Goyer, they were deep into prep at one point — production designer on, wheels turning — until the then-leadership at Fox derailed it. That collaboration led to him working with Cameron on Terminator: Dark Fate, and he says they got along great. He also noted that his friend Steve Asbell now runs 20th Century Studios, and he is strongly considering making the call to see if they can resurrect the project there.

Where this leaves things

If Cameron is truly back in the lab with a new director and a new script, this could finally move. The story itself is timeless, the tech is better than ever, and Cameron is not exactly a guy who chases dead ends. If it actually shoots next year, I will be pleasantly surprised, not shocked.