James Cameron Talks ‘Avatar’ Sequels Budget and Underwhelming Virtual Reality
Cameron didn't appear impressed with recent hype spurred by Oculus Rift, the virtual reality startup that made headlines in March when Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company would acquire the brand for $2 billion.
"There seems to be a lot of excitement around something that, to me, is a yawn, frankly," he said
"The question that always occurred to me is, when is it going to be mature, when is it going to be accepted by the public at large, when are people going to start authoring in VR and what will that be?" Cameron said.
"What will the level of interactivity with the user be other than just ‘I can stand and look around,'" he elaborated, adding: "If you want to move through a virtual reality it’s called a video game, it’s been around forever."
"Oculus Rift is fine, it’s got a good display and that sort of thing," he said offhandedly.
Cameron was also prompted to discuss 1995's virtual reality themed Strange Days, which grossed only $8 million and spurred a call from Murdoch at the time because of its disappointing box office.
"I got a call from Rupert after that one came out, it went like this: 'No more like that please.' That’s all that was said, and I thought that was very gentlemanly," Cameron recalled.
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