James Cameron doesn’t need more work on his plate. The filmmaker is firmly ensconced in the world of Avatar right now, still in the midst of cooking
James Cameron doesn’t need more work on his plate. The filmmaker is firmly ensconced in the world of Avatar right now, still in the midst of cooking up several planned sequels – including the impending third chapter, Avatar: Fire And Ash – all while mulling the idea of an animated anthology, and plotting an adaptation of nuclear-war-themed historical drama Ghosts Of Hiroshima too. So, when another story forces its way onto Cameron’s schedule, you know it has to be a good one. Enter The Devils, a freshly-published fantasy novel by Joe Abercrombie that became an instant New York Times bestseller, and had its rights promptly snapped up by Cameron – who plans to adapt it himself.
The reason why he simply had to do it? “It’s nuts. The whole thing is off its tits,” Cameron tells Empire. He’s not wrong – it’s a story that takes in monks, immortal knights, werewolves, elves, pirates, vampires, and necromancers, all caught up in a plot to bring a thief to Troy in a fantastical alternate-reality medieval Europe. “I was literally reading parts of the book out loud to my wife Suzy,” Cameron recalls. “And it dawned on me: ‘I like this book so much, I should just buy it.’”
For the filmmaker, The Devils will mark a tonal shift from what he’s trying to achieve with the Avatar saga, and his other intended projects. “It doesn’t have the kind of conscience that Avatar does, but I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. [Hiroshima] is a movie you do because you have to. The Devils is a movie you do for fun,” he says. Time to let it rip.
Read Empire’s full Avatar: Fire And Ash story – going to Avatar HQ for two days with James Cameron as he works on the film, also featuring modern cast interviews, never-before-seen images and more – in the September 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 31 July. Pre-order a copy online here. Avatar: Fire And Ash comes to UK cinemas from 19 December.
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