Oscar-winning director James Cameron is taking a break from his Avatar franchise to adapt Ghosts of Hiroshima, a new book by longtime collaborator Charles Pellegrino. Marking his first non-Avatar feature in nearly 15 years, the project coincides with the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing on August 6.
Cameron describes the story as the most powerful he has encountered since Titanic, calling the film a deeply personal and emotionally demanding undertaking. “If I do my job perfectly, everybody will walk out in the first 20 minutes. So that’s not the job,” he said. “The task is to tell it in a heartfelt way…to make you feel empathy.”
The director and Pellegrino share a long creative history, united by the Japanese concept of omoiyari — empathy in action. “It’s not just about feeling,” Cameron said. “It’s the idea that you must take a stand.”
In a post announcing the adaptation, Cameron wrote: “Not since Titanic have I found a true story as powerful as this one.” The film will explore the devastating legacy of the first nuclear attack in human history, arriving at a time when global fears over nuclear conflict are resurging.
Unfazed by the film’s emotional weight, Cameron said, “I’ve dived to the deepest place on Earth. I’m not afraid of anything — except screwing up.” He recalled a grimly humorous memory from his Titanic editing days: “I had a razor blade taped to my AVID monitor with a note that read, ‘Use in case film sucks.’”
While best known for building cinematic worlds like Pandora, Cameron does not see films as solutions, but rather provocations. “Avatar is a Trojan horse — it entertains, then works on your heart and mind,” he explained. “Films won’t save us, but they can remind us what matters.”
The next Avatar film, Fire and Ash, is set for release on December 19, with parts four and five scheduled for 2029 and 2031. But for now, Cameron is turning his lens from the glowing forests of Pandora to the haunting shadows of Hiroshima — and perhaps telling his most important story yet.