James Cameron Shares His Thoughts on Avatar Movies and Oscar Nominations

James Cameron on Dec. 1, 2025; Sam Worthington as Jake Sully in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Credit:

VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty; courtesy of 20th Century Studio

NEED TO KNOW

• James Cameron emphasized the deserving recognition of his Avatar films in awards discussions in a recent interview.
• The original Avatar (2009) received nine Oscar nominations and secured three wins, while its sequel, The Way of Water (2022), earned four nominations and one win.
• Nominations for the 2026 Oscars will be revealed on Thursday, January 22.

James Cameron believes his Avatar films merit a place in the awards conversation, even over a decade after the debut of the franchise with the 2009 release of Avatar.

Cameron, 71, appeared on the January 14 episode of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast to discuss his latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and the franchise’s reception. While reflecting on the earlier films’ successes at the Academy Awards, he remarked that he believes the sequel, The Way of Water, encountered an “anti-AI backlash” among awards voters, despite not employing generative AI techniques in their production.

“We’ve never used generative AI — there’s not one image in the new film that was created by generative AI,” Cameron stated. “I think we just got painted by a very broad brush and a backlash at that moment. Now, that said, people may have legitimately just not thought the movie was good. I happen to think it was f—ing good enough. It was good enough, guys!”

The original Avatar garnered nine Oscar nominations in 2010, winning three awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction, though it did not secure the Best Picture award. In contrast, The Way of Water received four nominations, including Best Picture, and won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

“Look, we’ll never know [with the first one], ‘Did we lose by one vote or 500?’ But we were there. We were in play,” Cameron noted regarding the Oscars results. “We weren’t in play at all on Avatar 2, and I consider that to be, in many ways, the most beautiful film that I’ve ever made.”

Oona Chaplin as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

20th Century Studios

While recognizing that he felt “disappointed” by the awards reaction to The Way of Water, Cameron expressed concerns about the film industry’s understanding of his artistic approach.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, which has already crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, received one nomination at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards, winning for Best Visual Effects. It also garnered a nod at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, with Miley Cyrus’ song “Dream As One” nominated for Best Original Song.

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

20th Century Studios

Cameron and fans of the Avatar series will soon learn how many nominations Fire and Ash will receive at the Academy Awards, set to be announced on January 22 by Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman in a live stream.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is currently in theaters.