INTERVIEW James Cameron explores family theme in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

Director James Cameron of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea

By Baek Byung-yeul

• Published Dec 12, 2025 3:35 PM KST
• Updated Dec 12, 2025 5:41 PM KST

Director James Cameron said Friday that his highly anticipated “Avatar: Fire and Ash” deals with a deeply personal journey about family and conflict.

"I've chosen to tell a story about family because I have a family. I have five children. I'm just going to put all that on Pandora. I'm going to put it in this fantastic realm, because I believe that anywhere around the world, people will be able to relate to those issues and those conflicts and those characters,” Cameron told Korean reporters during an online press conference.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is the third installment of the blockbuster franchise, following 2009's "Avatar" and 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water."

The new film continues the saga of the family of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former human soldier who permanently transferred his consciousness into his Na'vi avatar, and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), a female Na'vi of the Omatikaya clan. They face new threats and challenges as the story sees the family grappling with grief after the loss of their eldest son in the previous installment and introduces new Na'vi clans.

Cameron highlighted that the third film is not just another chapter of the franchise.

“It completes that story as we see the family in jeopardy and all the characters being challenged and with more hardship, more pain, more heartbreak than we’ve ever seen before in one of these films,” he said.

Known for pioneering film technology, the director explained the huge effort that went into making this movie. He said that over 3,000 people worked for four years, with 3,500 visual effects (VFX) shots. The director said his goal was to create something that looks real yet feels distinct from both live-action and traditional animated movies.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” introduces new societies on Planet Pandora, specifically the Ash People (the M’ekang) and the Tayrangi clan, known as Windtraders.

Cameron explained that the Ash People, who live in a volcanic region, represent the destructive themes of human experience. He said the M’ekang became an aggressive culture after their homeland was destroyed, taking their pain out on others. "Fire in this story represents hatred, violence, chaos and trauma," he said.

By contrast, the Windtraders are based on the "nomadic caravans of the Silk Road" but are airborne. They use giant, gas-filled jellyfish to support their ships, and their culture revolves around trade and the sharing of information across Pandora.

Cameron said creating this aerial society was a significant challenge. "The Windtraders were challenging, because we had to actually figure out how you would sail such a ship ... what the crew would be doing, how to give them behavior," the director said.

AI's potential role in lowering visual effects costs

When asked about the future of filmmaking in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI), Cameron was explicit about his position on actors.

"I think the one thing that I believe firmly is that we should never replace actors,” he said. “When people watch any storytelling, they watch the people they follow, the nuances of the emotion in their in their voice, in their face."

Cameron said that while generative AI can produce generic characters, it cannot replicate the uniqueness and consistency provided by a human actor. He emphasized the actor-driven process of the “Avatar” films, noting that the characters are "informed by the emotional reality of those actors, their actual lives."

However, the director saw a potential positive use for AI in streamlining the VFX workflow to bring down costs.

"I think what's harming the future of cinema right now is that the cost of VFX has gone steadily upward,” he said.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters Wednesday.