James Cameron is calling out the Academy Awards.
“I don’t think about the Academy Awards that much,” the filmmaker, 71, told The Globe and Mail on Friday. “Intentionally, I don’t think about that at this point. I don’t try to make a movie to appeal to their sensibility… they don’t tend to honor films like ‘Avatar’ or films that are science fiction.”
2009’s “Avatar” was nominated for nine Oscars and took home three, while 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” garnered four noms and won one trophy for visual effects.
The third installment, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” was released on Friday.
Meanwhile, fellow sci-fi flick, “Dune: Part One” hit theaters in 2021 while “Dune: Part Two” was released in 2024.
Cameron pointed out that, in his eyes, the adventure films’ director wasn’t recognized for his work.
“Denis Villeneuve, another Canadian filmmaker, made these two magnificent ‘Dune’ films,” Cameron stated. “And apparently these films make themselves because he wasn’t considered as a director, not even by the Director’s Guild.”
“Dune” received 10 Oscar nods but Villeneuve, 58, wasn’t nominated for Best Director.
The sequel earned five nominations, winning for visual effects and sound.
Despite “Avatar” and “Dune” not securing a Best Picture win, both films were massive hits at the box office.
“Like OK, you can play the awards game or you can play the game I like to play and that’s to make movies people actually go to. Sorry!”
Cameron himself has won three Academy Awards for “Titanic,” including: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing.
But the creator is focused on making movies for the audience.
“What I try to do,” Cameron detailed, “and what I’ve always tried to do for my entire filmmaking career, is to create the most riveting and engaging experience in a movie theatre that I can conceivably, humanly do.”
The first sci-fi movie to win Best Picture was 2023’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Meanwhile, Cameron has been very vocal about his beloved projects over the past few days.
While talking to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, the “Titanic” filmmaker shut down Matt Damon’s claims that he was offered the leading role of Jake Sully in “Avatar.”
“He was never offered the part,” Cameron declared. “I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did? Then we wound up on a call and he said, ‘I love to explore doing a movie with you. I have a lot of respect for you as a filmmaker. [‘Avatar’] sounds intriguing.’”
Damon, 55, has said on various occasions that he turned down an offer to take 10 percent of the gross profit from the project.
But according to Cameron, the actor was busy filming a “Jason Bourne” movie.
“He was never offered,” he added. “There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue.”
Sam Worthington took on the role instead and “Avatar” became the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion worldwide.
“If, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do ‘Avatar,’ then it wouldn’t have happened,” Cameron continued. “Trust me on that.”
But the famed director still respects Damon, who has starred in the “Jason Bourne” franchise since 2002.
“He felt compelled to call me personally and tell me; he said he didn’t want it to come from the agent — that’s an honorable guy,” he said. “So all respect to Matt. I’d love to work with him someday. But that never happened. It was a conflation of different things that were happening.”
Damon told Chris Wallace in 2023 that he could not leave production for the 2007 film “Bourne Ultimatum” early, which caused him to miss out on “Avatar.”
“I knew that we were gonna need work at the end, and I had to get it all the way to the finish line, and I would have to leave the movie kind of early, and leave them in the lurch a little bit,” he expressed. “And I didn’t wanna do that. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron, ’cause he works so rarely.”
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