James Cameron is discussing one of the biggest projects of his career. Over the past months, he's been promoting the new "Avatar" film, prompting many questions about what he plans to do next. One of his possible projects would be a reexploration of the "Terminator" movies, which he made alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron revealed whether or not he had any plans for Schwarzenegger. "I can safely say he won't be [in it]," said Cameron, likely disappointing many of Schwarzenegger's fans.
"It's time for a new generation of characters. I insisted Arnold had to be involved in Terminator: Dark Fate, and it was a great finish for him playing the T-800. There needs to be a broader interpretation of Terminator and the idea of a time war and super intelligence. I want to do new stuff that people aren't imagining."
In the interview, Cameron revealed that he was exploring possible stories to explore in the future, which may include more "Avatar" films, depending on the success of "Fire and Ash," which came out last week. He said that he's toying with a new Terminator idea.
“Once the dust clears on Avatar in a couple of months, I’m going to really plunge into that,” he said. “There are a lot of narrative problems to solve. The biggest is how do I stay enough ahead of what’s really happening to make it science fiction?”
When asked if he'd cracked the premise of the story and if he had any ideas of what's happening next, Cameron said, "I'm working on it." The project would mark the first "Terminator" film that Cameron has been involved with without Schwarzenegger.
"The things that scare you the most are exactly the things you should be doing," he said. "Nobody should be operating artistically from a comfort zone."
What Schwarzenegger has said about 'Terminator'
In past occasions, Schwarzenegger has shared just how much the "Terminator" movies matter to him, having been involved in six of them.
He also appears to think that the movies can't work without him featured in some shape or form. "How do you do a Terminator movie without me being in the Terminator movie? It doesn't make any sense," he said in a recent appearance on "Watch What Happens Live."
We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Cameron and the "Terminator" franchise as a whole.