James Cameron is making a very clear point before Avatar: Fire and Ash: Not a single frame of the upcoming sequel uses generative AI.
The director, who has spent decades taking performance capture technology to new heights, said he felt the need to speak out so that the public did not confuse his work with the growing trend of AI-generated images.
“I’m not negative about generative AI,” Cameron explained in an interview with ComicBook.com.
What I wanted people to understand is that the Avatar movies are based on real human performances, not digital shortcuts. He added: “We honor and celebrate actors. We don’t replace actors.”
Cameron said his concern is not with AI tools used creatively but with the “existential threat of big AI,” noting that Hollywood will eventually “find a way to overcome that” by self-policing.
For him, protecting actors’ place in the filmmaking process is essential, especially in a franchise that depends so much on their physical and emotional labor.
The cast has long emphasized this point as well.
Zoe Saldaña, who plays Neytiri, recently spoke about the level of commitment it takes to bring Pandora’s characters to life.
He described performance capture as “the most empowering form of acting” because it allows actors to “own 100 percent of our performance on screen.”
She reminded fans that Avatar It exists because the actors themselves did the work, saying it wouldn’t be possible without “Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, myself and the entire cast” using facial markers and immersing themselves in rigorous training.
From archery and martial arts to freediving, scuba diving, learning a created language, and studying movement with gymnasts and acrobats, the cast fully committed to the world Cameron imagined.
“It’s all of us,” he said, also praising the team of specialists.
With Cameron’s technology, he added, “it gives the artist full ownership power.”
As anticipation grows for the third installment, Cameron’s stance is redoubling his commitment to what he has always defined Avatar: human emotion at the center of avant-garde cinema.
