James Cameron has a bone to pick with the Oscars snubbing sci-fi movies like Avatar and Dune.
“I don’t think about the Academy Awards that much,” Cameron, 71, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail published on Friday, December 19. “Intentionally, I don’t think about that at this point. I don’t try to make a movie to appeal to their sensibility… they don’t tend to honor films like Avatar or films that are science fiction.”
While the first Avatar movie was nominated for nine Oscars — including the coveted Best Picture award and Best Director for Cameron — in 2009, the film only took home accolades for its cinematography, art direction and visual effects. Since the release of Avatar, Cameron has gone on to create two follow-up films: Avatar: The Way of Water, which was released in 2022, and Avatar: Fire and Ash, which hit theaters on Friday.
The second Avatar film was recognized by the Academy and received four nominations, including Best Picture. However, Avatar: The Way of Water only won for visual effects.
If you’re confused as to why Avatar: Fire and Ash received a Golden Globes 2026 nomination before its official theatrical release, you’re not alone. The James Cameron-directed film scored a nod for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement when the nominations were announced in December 2025. At the time of the announcement, the sci-fi movie had […]
Cameron backed up his argument by pointing out how Dune director Denis Villeneuve was not recognized years later.
“Denis Villeneuve, another Canadian filmmaker, made these two magnificent Dune films,” Cameron shared. “And apparently these films make themselves because he wasn’t considered as a director, not even by the Director’s Guild.”
Dune, which premiered in 2021, received 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. The film took home six awards for sound, visual effects, production design, score, editing and cinematography. Villeneuve was snubbed for Best Director. The 2024 sequel earned five nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, including Best Picture again, but won for sound and visual effects.
On top of both Cameron and Villeneuve’s science fiction franchises not earning the Best Picture award, the movies were also big blockbusters at the time of their release.
“Like OK, you can play the awards game or you can play the game I like to play and that’s to make movies people actually go to. Sorry!” Cameron quipped.
Cameron has three Academy Awards for Titanic, which he earned for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing.
Cameron added that his sole focus is making a movie for people to enjoy on the big screen.
“What I try to do, and what I’ve always tried to do for my entire filmmaking career, is to create the most riveting and engaging experience in a movie theatre that I can conceivably, humanly do,” he said.
Over the years there have been a few science fiction movies to take home Best Picture at the Oscars. The first sci-fi movie to win the prestigious award was Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023. The film dominated the Oscars as Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress for her performance while Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis took home Best Supporting Actor and Actress.
Before Everything Everywhere All at Once’s historic win, the only films that were close to the sci-fi genre to win Best Picture were the fantasy films The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Shape of Water, which were released in 2003 and 2017, respectively.
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