Oscar-winning director James Cameron has spent an estimated USD 16 million to buy 2,500 acres of farmland around Lake Pounui in New Zealand to grow crops while working on the sequels to 'Avatar'.
This year, shortly before his solo trip to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, Cameron bought the land and now he expects to absorb its magic while creating a pair of sequels that will build on the story of Pandora, reported New York Times.
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And the 57-year-old filmmaker is also planning to explore the freshwater lake teeming with eels. "I'm anxious to throw on a scuba tank and get down there," he said. Cameron brings the promise of a new national brand and a wave of employment for hundreds of New Zealanders who are expected to work on 'Avatar 2'and 'Avatar 3.'
He shot parts of the first 'Avatar' in Wellington and completed its visual effects work there. To obtain governmental approval to buy the land, Cameron had to agree to keep at least part of it as a working farm.
But the current operation built mostly around cows poses a problem for him, as his wife, Suzy Amis, had pushed him and their children toward a plant-based diet. "So we're looking for something more crop based. I don't want to be a hypocrite," Cameron said.