Apparently the World of ‘Avatar’ Isn’t Enough for James Cameron, Director Lines Up New Project

By  · Published on October 23rd, 2012

First of all, thank goodness. Second of all, duh.

Back in May, James Cameron basically informed the world that if a film wasn’t set in the world of his Avatar, he wasn’t interested in making it. At the time, the filmmaker said: “I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts…I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing.”

Turns out, Cameron found something else that he wanted to say, something that will (thankfully) get us the hell off of Pandora. THR reports that the director has snapped up the rights to Taylor Stevens’ novel “The Informationist,” a feature film version of which Cameron will both produce and direct after he finishes up both Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. So who is said Informationist? Well, she’s a strong lady, one who sounds as if she’ll fit right in to Cameron’s canon.

Said “Informationist” is Vanessa “Michael” Munroe, who THR describes as reminiscent of both Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Sherlock Holmes (with shades of Jason Bourne!). Munroe was “born in central Africa [and] spent her teenaged years as a protégé of gunners and mercenaries. She reinvents herself as an information dealer for wealthy clients but when a billionaire hires her to find his daughter who went missing in Africa, Munroe finds herself back in the Dark Continent.” She certainly sounds tough.

Cameron will produce through his Lightstorm Entertainment, along with Jon Landau. A screenwriter should be hired soon to adapt the material.

“The Informationist” was published in March of last year. A second Munroe book, “The Innocent,” hit shelves this March, and a third book, “The Doll,” is due out next June. So, you know, here’s another franchise for Cameron.

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