Avatar (2009 film) Avatar (2009 film) Avatar, marketed as James Cameron's Avatar, is a 2009 American epic science fiction film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron, and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the mineral unobtanium, a room-temperature superconductor. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's
James Cameron when Carolco Pictures filed for bankruptcy. His script was rewritten by David Koepp for the 2002 movie "Spider-Man", directed by Sam Raimi. In 1996, James Cameron decided to produce the new installment in the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, but it was cancelled before the Tim Burton version was made. Although Cameron has resided in the United States since 1971, he remains a Canadian citizen. Cameron applied for American citizenship in 2004, but withdrew his application after George W. Bush won the presidential election. Cameron divides his time between his home in California and his second home in New Zealand,