- Cameron to adapt Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils after Avatar: Fire and Ash.
- He will co-write the script with Abercrombie himself.
- The novel explores a hellish fantasy world filled with monsters and moral ambiguity.
James Cameron has announced that he will take a break from the Avatar franchise to work on an entirely different cinematic beast: an adaptation of The Devils, a dark fantasy novel by Joe Abercrombie.
The Devils follows Brother Diaz, a devout servant of the church who is assigned to lead a squad of supernatural beings—including monsters and murderers—on a mission to protect Europe from flesh-eating elves.
From Pandora to Hell: James Cameron’s Next Fantasy Saga Begins
Cameron’s passion for big, immersive worlds is no secret, but The Devils offers a completely different flavor. Unlike the spiritual and ecological themes of Avatar, this project dives into moral ambiguity, dark humor, and gothic fantasy. The director expressed excitement over working with Abercrombie, praising his visual writing style and layered characters.
The timing couldn’t be better. With Avatar 4 not scheduled until 2029, Cameron has a multi-year window to invest in something new. Whether he’ll direct The Devils or act solely as a writer and producer remains unclear. Regardless, his hands-on involvement signals a serious creative commitment.
Joe Abercrombie’s writing has long been praised for its anti-heroic characters and cynical worldview, qualities that align intriguingly with Cameron’s interest in flawed protagonists and unconventional narratives. In The Devils, even the so-called heroes are monsters—and that inversion seems to have captured Cameron’s imagination.
While Avatar focuses on external battles over land and identity, The Devils leans inward, exploring what it means to lead a group of moral outcasts in a doomed world. Cameron seems eager to sink his teeth into this grim, character-driven material, giving fans a bold new direction from one of cinema’s most ambitious visionaries.
With The Devils, James Cameron is signaling that his imagination isn’t confined to the oceans of Pandora—he’s ready to explore even darker, stranger depths.
“A twisted, stylish, alt-universe middle-ages romp, where your best hope of survival is the monsters themselves.” — James Cameron
