James Cameron, writer and director of the Avatar films, wins big at the 51st Annual Saturn Awards. He and his producer, Jon Landau, debunk the 9 hour Avatar cut exclusively to Temple of Geek.

EXCLUSIVE: James Cameron Debunks 9 Hour Avatar Cut

At the Saturn Awards, James Cameron won Best Film Direction and Best Film Screenwriting. The film he won for, Avatar: The Way of Water, won Best Science Fiction Film. James and his long-time producer, Jon Landau, talked to Temple of Geek and gave them the scoop on the 9 hour Avatar cut rumors that have circulated the last year.

Nick from Temple of Geek:
You’ve created so many epics together. How do you approach every new project?

James Cameron:
Well, we’re sort of on the same project for quite a while. If you think of the Avatar films as a bigger story arc. Were all written out through four and five. We’ve shot part of four. We’ve shot about 95% notwithstanding an inaccurate comment that Zoe (Saldana) made about about a year ago. Oh! And by the way, can I just shoot something down right now? That’s been propagated. 

Nick from Temple of Geek:
Yeah

James Cameron:
There is no nine hour rough cut! If I ever…I would put a shotgun in my mouth if I ever did a nine hour rough cut. No, what I said was it’s 9 hours of material. Meaning Avatar 3, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. That’s, you know, 3 hours a movie. Somehow that turning on nine. Can you. Imagine?

Jon Landau:
No, you know…

James Cameron:
He would shoot me (pointing to Jon)

Jon Landau:
I would shoot myself.

James Cameron and Jon Landau talk about Avatar as a passion project

Jon Landau:
Going back to what Jim was saying, when he talks about these movies. We approach each one with a passion. These are all passion projects.

James Cameron:
We’re doing that because we love it.

Jon Landau:
That’s right. That’s why.

James Cameron:
It’s not just about loving the material and the and the, you know, kind of the oeuvre in the world that we’ve built so far and what we’re continuing to build. It’s about the people we work with. Think what brought me back to Avatar more than anything else was the feeling of family and mutual respect that we had on the first film. And now we’re at a point where it’s like you’re in season four of some TV series, you know, where everybody just feels so supportive. There’s no catfighting, no infighting, none of that stuff. Just everybody loves what they’re doing. They dig it.

Jon Landau:
And that’s true with the cast.

James Cameron:
And that’s what I’m talking about

James and Jon:
The cast and crew

Jon Landau:
And they don’t look down at the crew. It’s all one thing. They hug the crew and it’s great.

James Cameron:
It’s a gift