Academy Award-winning director James Cameron is known for helming some of the most successful movies in history. With films like Titanic and Avatar under his belt, which are two of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Cameron has cemented himself as one of Hollywood’s most prolific filmmakers.
Recently, Cameron declared that he would be taking on a new cinematic challenge outside the world of Pandora. He’s secured the rights to Charles Pellegrino’s forthcoming book, Ghosts of Hiroshima, and has expressed his intentions of making a movie based on Ghosts of Hiroshima and Pellegrino’s 2015 book, Last Train From Hiroshima. This would mark Cameron’s first non-Avatar project since 1997.
Ghosts of Hiroshima will be published in August 2025, and Cameron revealed to Deadline that he will be working on the movie adaptation, titled Last Train From Hiroshima, as soon as his schedule with the Avatar franchise allows. The film is set to explore the harrowing experiences of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a man who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. The books describe the experiences of the eyewitnesses of both Japanese civilians and American flyers, as well as the aftermath of the deaths of between 150,000 and 246,000 people.
Cameron feels a strong responsibility to bring Yamaguchi’s story to the screen, and he shared with Deadline how he has been “wrestling with how [to tell the story] for years,” having met Yamaguchi “just days before his death.”
“It’s a subject that I’ve wanted to do a film about, that I’ve been wrestling with how to do it, over the years. I met Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just days before he died. He was in the hospital. He was handing the baton of his personal story to us, so I have to do it. I can’t turn away from it.”
In addition to Yamaguchi’s deeply personal story, Last Train From Hiroshima will delve into the accounts of other survivors and offer an intimate look at the devastating impact of the atomic bombs. Shane Salerno, who helped secure the publishing deal and co-wrote Avatar: The Way of Water with Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, is also involved in the project. Pellegrino, who previously served as a science consultant to Cameron on Titanic and Avatar, will be a key part of the movie.
James Cameron Is Currently Occupied With Avatar: Fire and Ash
While Last Train From Hiroshima remains a few years away, Cameron currently has his hands full with the third Avatar movie, Avatar: Fire and Ash. The movie will continue the epic saga of Pandora and introduce a new Na’vi clan known as the “Ash People,” who dwell in volcanic regions. Cameron has ambitious plans for the Avatar franchise, with Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 already in the pipeline. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter whether he would return to direct future installments in the franchise, he confirmed it by stating the stories are already written.
“Absolutely. I mean, they’re going to have to stop me. I got plenty of energy, love doing what I’m doing. Why would I not? And they’re written, by the way. I just reread both of them about a month ago. They’re cracking stories. They’ve got to get made. Look, if I get hit by a bus and I’m in an iron lung, somebody else is going to do it.”
Cameron has also long been vocal about his concerns regarding nuclear warfare. The theme has appeared in his previous works like Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The recently confirmed Last Train From Hiroshima will be a special project for Cameron as it will reflect the catastrophic consequences of nuclear conflict through his distinct lens. Cameron has already described his adaptation as an “uncompromising theatrical film,” and we’re sure it will be groundbreaking and emotionally impactful.