‘We think we can make a really good movie’: 60 years later, James Cameron and Guillermo del Toro are revisiting an important sci-fi film.

After a screening of his 1984 classic The Terminator, moviegoers gave James Cameron a hero’s masterclass in Paris earlier this month, with a standing ovation that even shook the often timid filmmaker.

“This is the record for the longest applause I have ever received in my life. thanks. This is the highlight of my career!“- he said in surprise.

The event launched a new exhibition at the Cinémathèque française dedicated solely to him. Until January 2025, The Art of James Cameron will feature more than 300 paintings, prints and production drawings drawn from the director’s personal collection, signed by his hand and exhibited as a retrospective of his career.

Especially evoking classics from his past filmography, such as Aliens Return (1986), for example, James Cameron also hinted at his future works in the subsequent Q&A session, and in particular one of his long-term projects: a remake of Richard Fleischer’s 1966 Fantastic Voyage, a project he and his partner Jon Landau have been working on for more than a decade.

“We’ve been working on it for a few years now and plan to launch it very soon“, he said. “Raquel Welch is not available, but we think we can make a very good movie.“

released in 1966, Fantastic trip It followed a group of American scientists who were once inserted in miniature into the body of a comatose man to treat him. Film, signed Richard FleischerIt won two Oscars: Best Visual Effects and Best Series, and notably starred Donald Plains (Halloween, Night of the Masquerade) and Raquel Welch (One Million Years BC).

In 1987, Joe Dante presented his own re-reading Fantastic trip Adventure Within (starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid), more burlesque than Fleischer’s film, set in the middle of the Cold War.

A project dating back to the 90s

has been attached to the project since the late 90s, James Cameron He even went so far as to write the screenplay, but after finishing Titanic, he started focusing on Avatar. In 2016, he hired Guillermo del Toro to direct the film, and the latter is expected to begin shooting in January 2017. It seems the project has been delayed. But Del Toro still didn’t give up and reaffirmed his interest in the film three years ago. Last year, he also talked about his next feature films: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, currently in production, the animated film Buried Giant, and an untitled live-action film. Maybe a fantastic trip?

Therefore, it is unlikely James Cameron The film is being directed by himself, who is too busy with the Avatar sequels he is going to do.”Continue to work until 2031And which he also gave news of, assuring the public that work on part 3 was underway for a planned release in late 2025, and that the scripts for the next parts were finished, the designs were almost finished and the 3D modeling should be completed. start.

James Cameron It will celebrate its 76th anniversary when the fifth Avatar hits the theaters. However, it seems that he will not direct the 6th and 7th parts and “will pass the batonTo another filmmaker at the time – or so he says.

However, if there is another project he could pursue, this could be it Last train from Hiroshima. Last year, the director expressed interest in making a film based on Charles Pellegrino’s non-fiction book. The Last Train From Hiroshima: Survivors Look Backfor which the rights would be acquired.

James Cameron and Science Fiction

Without giving more details about the master class, James Cameron also describes his appreciation of science fiction as a vehicle for hope and fear, which may give some clues to his future projects, including Fantastic trip.

“Science fiction allows us to imagine a future that could arise from our present time“, he said. “When Star Wars appeared, science fiction suddenly became very optimistic, focused on fun and adventure. But the story has always been about caution, the misuse of technology and the misuse of science.“

“Who decides what is good for humanity?– he asked. “Artificial intelligence will only be a reflection of us. It will be us with all our faults and all our potentially bad intentions. Yes, that might be a good thing, but in the 1930s atomic scientists thought that an infinite source of energy would eliminate hunger… instead we got Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Cold War. That’s what worries me.“

While waiting for more information on his next projects, Titanic and Avatar can be seen on Disney+.

As for Avatar: The Last Airbender and Richard Fleischer’s original Fantastic Voyage, they are both available on VOD.