James Cameron is adding an adaptation of Joe Abercrombie’s best-selling fantasy horror The Devils to his schedule, and suggests he might even direct.
Director James Cameron is still firmly in the Avatar business, with a second sequel, Fire And Ash, due in December and at least two further sequels scheduled for 2029 and 2031. There’s also talk of animated spin-offs, which he’ll most likely produce.
Cameron has other projects lined up away from the planet Pandora, however. There’s his potentially harrowing period piece, Ghosts Of Hiroshima, which he’s confirmed he’ll direct himself. Then there’s The Devils, an adaptation of Joe Abercrombie’s best-selling fantasy horror novel published this year.
Lightstorm (Cameron’s production company) acquired the rights to that novel last year, with the filmmaker having read and enjoyed Abercrombie’s full-blooded yarn while it was still a manuscript. Earlier this year, Cameron put out a statement that said he would “dig into” The Devils once he’s finished on Avatar: Fire And Ash, and hinted that he’d personally write the adapted screenplay (“I’m certain this adaptation will practically write itself,” he said).
In a new interview with Empire, meanwhile, Cameron talks about what attracted him to The Devils in the first place, and appears to imply that he’ll direct the movie himself.
First, the motivation: “It’s nuts,” he said of the novel, set in a version of the Middle Ages filled with elves, vampires and other monsters. “The whole thing is off its tits.”
Then there’s the bit where he might imply that he’s directing it. “It doesn’t have the kind of conscience that Avatar does,” he said, “but I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. [Hiroshima] is a movie you do because you have to. The Devils is a movie you do for fun.”
Exactly where The Devils and Ghosts Of Hiroshima fit in Cameron’s schedule isn’t currently clear. There’s four years between now and Avatar 4's release window in 2029, so he could squeeze in one of these movies into the gulf of time between now and then. Or it could be that The Devils ends up being one of those projects that Cameron remains closely involved with but hands off to another director, such as his anime adaptation, Alita: Battle Angel, which ended up being directed by Robert Rodriguez.
More clarity will likely emerge over the coming months as Cameron goes on Avatar: Fire And Ash’s press tour. That particular blue movie is out on the 19th December in the UK.
