3D market is going to explode: James Cameron

He waited for about 15 years to develop the right technology to shoot Avatar, the highest grossing movie in cinema history, but James Cameron feels that the market for 3D is going to get bigger in the near future and transcend filmmaking.

The Oscar-winning director, who is bringing Sanctum in 3D after the mega success of Avatar, releasing in India on February 4, is known for his fetish for the underground world and new technology.

Cameron, who pioneered 3D, is averse to bad conversions but feels that a few bad films won't affect its market.

"When the consumer electronics manufacturers bring to market sets that don't require glasses, at that point, it's going to explode like crazy. The market is growing. The number of networks and terrestrial broadcast companies, cable companies and satellite companies that are investing, either tentatively or aggressively, in 3D is increasing all the time," Cameron said in an email interview.

The 56-year-old director feels that apart from feature films, 3D is going to expand to sports, TV programmes and live broadcast, which he says is right around the corner.

Cameron is not bothered about naysayers and is preparing for the increase by expanding the production of the Fusion cameras in his company but he is still concerned with bad 3D.

"We're having to expand much more rapidly than we thought we were going to. We'll be building hundreds of camera systems in the next year to service the demand. There have been a lot of naysayers but it never stopped growing.

"I'm excited about the possibilities of new technology but I'm also concerned about the possibilities of bad 3D. These fast conversions done during post-production are still a problem but most people have started to veer toward native 3D production," he adds.

Talking about his latest production Sanctum, which has been directed by Alister Grierson on a screenplay by John Garvin and Wight, Cameron says he wanted to make the audience a part of the anxiety that the characters go through.

"Five years ago, Andrew brought me the idea and I loved it. Andrew and I had previously been on some great adventures together. We dove deep into the ocean to uncharted depths to explore and discover never-before-seen parts of the ocean floor and marine life for Aliens of the Deep. We dove the Titanic (for Ghosts of the Abyss) and the Bismarck," he says.

The film follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth and how they get trapped inside after a tropical storm.

"We want audiences to be left with a certain experience where they feel involved with the perils faced by the characters. Action is a way of externalizing an emotional state. You might be in a situation where you're absolutely petrified and you might be seconds away from death, but not a lot might be happening," says Cameron.