James Cameron has announced his next fantasy movie, The Devils, coming after Avatar: Fire and Ash. Initially planned to arrive in 2015, Fire and Ash marks the third installment in the Avatar franchise and has been in the works for some time. The film is currently in post-production and is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 19. It is one of the most anticipated movies of 2025 and features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang reprising their roles from the previous sequel.

Cameron has now taken to Facebook to announce his new fantasy film, which is based on Joe Abercrombie’s novel The Devils. Cameron and his company, Lightstorm, have purchased the rights to the book. The upcoming project will be co-written by the author and the filmmaker. Check out Cameron’s comments below:

How do I describe The Devils? A sharply witty horror adventure? An epic battle between good and evil except most of the time you can’t tell which is which? A twisted, stylish, alt-universe middle-ages romp, where your best hope of survival is the monsters themselves? This is Joe Abercrombie in absolute peak form, opening up a whole new world and an ensemble of delicious new characters. The twists and turns come at a rollercoaster pace, and with Joe’s signature acerbic wit and style. The Devils showcases Joe’s jaundiced view of human nature, in all its dark, selfish glory, as told through some decidedly un-human characters. But of course, Joe always teases with the flickers of redemption that make it all worthwhile — and ultimately quite heartwrenching.

I’ve loved Joe’s writing for years, cherishing each new read, throughout the epic cycle of the First Law books, especially Best Served Cold (LOVE IT!) and the Age of Madness trilogy. But the freshness of the world and the characters in The Devils finally got me off my ʙuтт to buy one of his books and partner with him to bring it to the screen. I’m looking forward to the writing process with him, though I’m certain this adaptation will practically write itself because Joe writes very visually, almost in scenes, and with a very cinematic structure. I can’t wait to dig into this as I wind down on Avatar: Fire and Ash. It will be a joyful new challenge for me to bring these indelible characters to life.

Abercrombie echoed the same enthusiasm as the filmmaker on the upcoming movie adaptation. Read his comments below:

James Cameron has been thrilling audiences, including me, by putting the impossible on film for over four decades. No one can balance mind-blowing action and spectacle with gut-wrenching personal stakes and story the way he does. I can’t think of anyone better to bring this weird and wonderful monster of a book to the screen.

What This Means For James Cameron

James Cameron Has The Perfect Project Before Avatar 4

Cameron has a lot planned for post-Avatar 3. Last year, Cameron purchased the rights to Ghosts of Hiroshima, a book by Charles Pellegrino that will be published in August this year. The filmmaker was planning on combining both Ghosts and the author’s 2015 book, Last Train From Hiroshima, into a film that tells the tale of a man who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. It was expected to be the director’s next project after the release of Avatar 5.

Cameron’s recent comments confirmed that he’d be staying in the fantasy genre after the release of Fire and Ash. Meanwhile, the director’s description of Abercrombie’s latest work also seems to share similarities with the stories he’s telling in Avatar, even though The Devils revolves around a group of outcasts and criminals set on a suicide mission in a gritty, war-torn world. With the director’s commitment to developing Avatar 4 and 5, the upcoming movie adaptation would act as an in-between project before diving back to Pandora.

Our Take On James Cameron’s Upcoming Fantasy Movie

The Devils Could Arrive Sooner Than Later

Even though James Cameron will co-write the script with Abercrombie, it sounds like The Devils will be a more faithful adaptation to the books given that the director spoke highly about the visual aspect of the author’s writing. Compared to Hiroshima, The Devils sounds like a project that will be more focused on visual collaboration with the author to best present the story.

Hiroshima, on the other hand, will pull Cameron fully into exploring and examining the real-world trauma, which, if scheduled in between the Avatar movies, could cause significant delays. The Devils sounds like a good fit for post-Avatar 3 and pre-Avatar 4 for Cameron. With the world and story already built, it might not take as long for the movie to be made.

Source: James Cameron/Facebook