Director James Cameron Joins Heavy Metal

Avatar Director Joins Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, Jack Black

Jun 9, 2009

Über director James Cameron (Terminator, Titanic) will direct a segment of the upcoming Heavy Metal film for Sony.

Kevin Eastman's dream of a new Heavy Metal animated film just got a lot more realistic.

According to the Heavy Metal magazine publisher and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator, director James Cameron (T2, Avatar) has signed on to executive produce the film. In addition, he will direct a segment.

I’ve got breaking news that Fincher and James Cameron are going to be Co-Executive Producers on the film," Eastman told Film School Rejects. Fincher (Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) was the original executive producer for the film, and spearheaded its shift from Paramount to Sony after Paramount started yanking Fincher's chain over Benjamin Button's running time.

"Fincher will direct one," Eastman continues. "Cameron will direct one. Zack Snyder is going to direct one and Gore Verbinski is going to (as well)."

Directors Snyder (300, Watchmen) and Verbinski (the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) were previously listed as being interested in the project, but not signed.

Other confirmed segment directors include Blur Animation Studios head Tim Miller (Blur is handling the graphics for this flick) plus Eastman himself. There's no word as to whether F.A.K.K. actor Julie Strain (Eastman's spouse) will appear in his segment.

"(Kung Fu Panda director) Mark Osborne and Jack Black from Tenacious D are going to do a comedy segment for the film. Three other directors have agreed but we haven’t signed them, but they’re equally as jaw-dropping. So we’re on cloud nine to be working with such an amazing amount of talent.”

One of those holdouts could be Guilllermo Del Toro (Hellboy II, The Hobbit) who, according to Eastman, was interested in directing a segment.

Not much is currently known about the film but it's likely to follow a similar format to the Canadian-made cult hit. It had 6 segments loosely tied together by a story arc involving the sinister Loc-Nar, a rock which caused people to (a) go crazy, (b) turn into zombies or (c) transform nerds into heroically gifted musclemen.

Much like that 1981 movie, and what regularly appears in "the world's foremost adult illustrated fantasy magazine," the new Heavy Metal film will likely have sequences depicting:

David Fincher and James Cameron's Heavy Metal is tentatively scheduled for a 2010 release.

Fun Fact: South Park spoofed the original Heavy Metal film in the episode "Major Boobage."

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