A photograph of Cameron speaking at the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarding ceremony of producer Gale Anne Hurd in 2012
Cameron speaking at the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarding ceremony of producer Gale Anne Hurd in 2012

James Cameron is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer who has had an extensive career in film and television. Cameron's debut was the 1978 science fiction short Xenogenesis, which he directed, wrote and produced.[1][2] In his early career, he did various technical jobs such as special visual effects producer, set dresser assistant, matte artist, and photographer. His feature directorial debut was the 1982 release Piranha II: The Spawning.[2][3] The next film he directed was the science fiction action thriller The Terminator (1984) which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular cyborg assassin, and was Cameron's breakthrough feature.[4][5][6] In 1986, he directed and wrote the science fiction action sequel Aliens starring Sigourney Weaver.[7] He followed this by directing another science fiction film The Abyss (1989). In 1991, Cameron directed the sequel to The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (with Schwarzenegger reprising his role),[8] and also executive produced the action crime film Point Break. Three years later he directed a third Schwarzenegger-starring action film True Lies (1994).[9]

A photograph of Cameron (right) with Aliens producer Gale Anne Hurd (left) in 1986
Cameron (right) with his then wife and Aliens producer Gale Anne Hurd (left) in 1986[10]
A photograph of Cameron receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009
Cameron receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009

In 1997, Cameron directed, wrote, and produced the epic romantic disaster film Titanic which grossed over $1.8 billion[11][a] at the worldwide box-office and became the highest grossing of all time.[b] He received the Academy Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, and shared the Academy Award for Best Picture with the other producers. It had a total of 14 Oscar nominations (tying the record set by the 1950 drama All About Eve) and won 11 (tying the record set by the 1959 epic historical drama Ben-Hur).[16] Cameron also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director and shared the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama with the other producers.[17] He followed this by directing, and producing two underwater documentaries: Ghosts of the Abyss (2003), and Aliens of the Deep (2005). He returned to directing features in 2009 with the 3D science fiction film Avatar. It grossed over $2.9 billion at the worldwide box-office and became the highest grossing of all time surpassing Titanic.[c][15][20] Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won three in technical categories.[21] Cameron also earned a second Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and Best Motion Picture – Drama.[22] He followed this by executive producing two 3D films, Sanctum (2011) and Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012), as well as the documentary Deepsea Challenge 3D (2014).

Cameron made his television debut in 1998 playing himself in the sitcom Mad About You. Two years later he executive produced the science fiction television series Dark Angel (2000) starring Jessica Alba. In 2005, he appeared in two documentaries about the sinking of the RMS Titanic: Last Mysteries of the Titanic, and Tony Robinson's Titanic Adventure. He also made appearances as himself on the comedy-drama television series Entourage that same year. Cameron followed this by executive producing two biblical documentaries, The Exodus Decoded (2006) and Lost Tomb of Jesus (2007). He executive produced and appeared in a third Titanic related documentary, Titanic: Final Word with James Cameron, in 2012. Two years later, Cameron executive produced the climate change documentary television series Years of Living Dangerously (2014) which received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.[23]

Film

Feature films

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Credited as Notes Ref(s)
Director Writer Producer Editor
1978 Xenogenesis Yes Yes Yes No Short film
Co-directed and co-written with Randall Frakes
Also Visual effects producer 		[1]
1982 Piranha II: The Spawning Yes Yes[d] No No Co-written with Charles H. Eglee and Ovidio G. Assonitis (uncredited) [24]
1984 The Terminator Yes Yes No No Co-written with Gale Anne Hurd [25]
1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II No Yes No No Co-written with Sylvester Stallone [26]
1986 Aliens Yes Yes No No [27]
1989 The Abyss Yes Yes No No [28]
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day Yes Yes Yes No Co-written with William Wisher Jr. [29]
1994 True Lies Yes Yes Yes Uncredited [30]
1995 Strange Days No Yes Yes Uncredited Co-written with Jay Cocks [31]
1997 Titanic Yes Yes Yes Yes Also director of photography: Titanic deep dive [32]
2002 Solaris No No Yes No [33]
2009 Avatar Yes Yes Yes Yes [34]
2019 Alita: Battle Angel No Yes Yes No Co-written with Laeta Kalogridis [35]
Terminator: Dark Fate No Story Yes No Story co-written with Charles Eglee, Josh Friedman, David Goyer and Justin Rhodes [36]
2022 Avatar: The Way of Water Yes Yes Yes Yes Co-written with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver [37][38]
2025 Avatar 3 † Yes Yes Yes Yes Post-production [37]
2029 Avatar 4 † Yes Yes Yes Yes Filming [37]

Executive producer

Documentary features

Year Title Credited as Notes Ref(s)
Director Producer Himself
2003 Ghosts of the Abyss Yes Yes Yes Also Reality Camera System designer [42][43]
Volcanoes of the Deep Sea No Executive No IMAX only [44]
2004 The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing No No Yes [45]
2005 Aliens of the Deep Yes Yes Yes Co-directed with Steven Quale
Also cinematographer 		[46][47][48]
2006 Explorers: From the Titanic to the Moon No No Yes [49]
2012 Side by Side No No Yes [50]
2014 Deepsea Challenge 3D No Executive Yes [51]
2016 Score: A Film Music Documentary No No Yes [52]
2018 The Game Changers No Executive No [53]
2020 Akashinga: The Brave Ones No Executive No [54]
2021 The Six No Executive Yes [55]

Other credits

Year Title Role Ref.
1979 Rock 'n' Roll High School Production assistant (Uncredited) [56]
1980 Happy Birthday, Gemini Set dresser assistant [57]
Battle Beyond the Stars Photographer, art director and miniatures designer [58]
1981 Escape from New York Special visual effects photographer and matte artist [59]
Galaxy of Terror Second unit director and production designer [60]
1982 Android Design consultant [61]
2022 Avatar: The High Ground Based on a screenplay by James Cameron [62]

Television

A photograph of Cameron speaking at the 2010 TED conference
Cameron speaking at the 2010 TED Conference

Television series

Year(s) Title Role Notes Ref(s)
1998 Mad About You Himself Episode: "The Finale" [63]
2000–2002 Dark Angel — Executive producer
Episode: "Pilot" (writer)
Episode: "Freak Nation" (director and writer) 		[64]
2005–2006 Entourage Himself 4 episodes [65]
2023 True Lies — Executive producer
Characters 		[66]

Documentary films

Year(s) Title Director Producer Himself Notes Ref(s)
2002 Expedition: Bismarck Yes Yes No Co-director with Gary Johnstone [67]
2005 Last Mysteries of the Titanic Yes Yes No [68][69]
Tony Robinson's Titanic Adventure No No Yes [70][71]
2006 The Exodus Decoded No Executive No [72]
2007 The Lost Tomb of Jesus No Executive No [73]
2010 Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora No No Yes [74]
2012 Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron No No Yes [75]
James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth No No Yes [76]
2013 A New Age of Exploration: National Geographic at 125 No No Yes [75][77]
2017 Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron No No Yes [78]
2023 Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron No Executive Yes [79]

Documentary series

Year(s) Title Executive
Producer 		Host Ref(s)
2014 Years of Living Dangerously Yes No [80]
2018 James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Yes Yes [81]
2021 Secrets of the Whales Yes No [82]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A worldwide 3D rerelease of the film in 2012 increased this total to over $2.2 billion.[12][13][14]
  2. ^ This record was held until 2010 when it was surpassed by the 3D science fiction film Avatar also directed by Cameron.[15]
  3. ^ The film was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Avatar became highest grossing again in 2021 after a Chinese rerelease.[18][19]
  4. ^ Credited as "H.A. Hamilton" with Charles H. Eglee

References

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External links

James Cameron
Category