Does James Cameron want an Oscar night redo, a chance to erase his 1998 "King of the World" proclamation from the public consciousness? How important is it to the man to walk away from Hollywood's biggest evening on March 7 with those golden Directing and Best Picture figurines for his nearly five-year effort on "Avatar"?
"I already got my statues," he told MTV News. "I don't feel greedy or needy in that way."
That may or may not be true, but he's certainly doing some very public campaigning for his Oscar competition, "The Hurt Locker," directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who just so happens to be his ex-wife. Both are nominated for Directing and both films nabbed Best Picture nods.
"I would see it's an irresistible opportunity for the Academy to anoint a female director for the first time," said Cameron, who remains close with Bigelow. "I would say that's a very, very strong probability, and I will be cheering when that happens."
Yet Cameron held out the possibility that voters for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might choose to honor both "Avatar" and "Hurt Locker" by splitting up the Directing and Best Picture awards, as has happened in the past with "The Pianist" and "Chicago" (2002) and "Gladiator" and "Traffic" (2000).
Calling Bigelow a "genius director" and saying his Oscar wins didn't change his life back in the late 1990s, Cameron said the main reason he'll be rooting for "Avatar" Oscar wins is for the benefit of his crew.
"I worked with this core group of people for four and half years and they would feel so empowered and gratified by that type of award," he said. "But, of course, we're nominated in a number of those technical categories as well, so maybe that's where the accolades should reside."
Check out everything we've got on "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar."
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