James Cameron Working on ‘Avatar’ Novel

Posted on Feb 16, 2010

20th Century Fox / Mark Fellman

Director James Cameron twiddles some knobs while flanked by members of his cast on the set of “Avatar.”

There’s no shortage of fan fiction and musty paperbacks based on science fiction movies, but it’s highly unusual for the creators of such films to actually write the things. James Cameron is reportedly working on a novel based on the back story of his latest film, which has already made more money than any movie ever.

Who does this guy think he is? Timothy Zahn?

Hopefully the lack of technical challenges will free Cameron to work out a story that’s a little less, shall we say, trite?  —PZS

Christian Science Monitor:

Can’t get enough of “Avatar”? Soon you may be able to enjoy it on the printed page as well as the screen. According to Jon Landau, the movie’s producer, director James Cameron is writing a novel that will serve as a prequel to “Avatar.”

Landau stressed in his interview with MTV that Cameron’s project will not be a novelization of the events in the film but a distinct story. According to Landau, the book “would be something that would lead up to telling the story of the movie, but it would go into much more depth about all the stories that we didn’t have time to deal with – like the schoolhouse and Sigourney [Weaver’s character] teaching at the schoolhouse; Jake on Earth and his back story and how he came here; [the death of] Tommy, Jake’s brother; and Colonel Quaritch, how he ended up there and all that.”

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