When director James Cameron was selling his California ranch in 2023, I noted that it was on the heels of a decade in which Cameron had been buying up New Zealand property and living there. Where many of us consider New Zealand to be Middle Earth, Cameron envisioned Pandora in that country. He also saw the world class visual effects studios Peter Jackson and Weta Digital had crafted in Wellington, and realized that continuing his Avatar series would best be achieved using that Kiwi talent. My point is, it’s been well documented for nearly 15 years that Cameron had relocated to New Zealand to make these movies. Obviously, a lot has gone down over the last 15 years, including an orange wrecking ball crashing into American politics and a global pandemic. In a new interview with podcaster Graham Bensinger, Cameron says he and his family moved to New Zealand because the people there are “sane” and “believe in science,” as opposed to what he’s witnessing in his home country. I mean, he’s not wrong, but don’t forget to credit the Na’vi!
Speaking on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” the 71-year-old “Avatar: Fire and Ash” director praised the high COVID-19 vaccination rate in New Zealand, where he and his family are based, while taking aim at the U.S.’s response to the virus.
“This is why I love New Zealand. People there are for the most part sane as opposed to the United States,” he said. “And [the vaccination rates are] going down, going in the wrong direction.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Jan. 16, a little more than 17% of U.S. adults had received the 2025-26 COVID-19 shot.
“Are you kidding me? Where would you rather live? A place that actually believes in science and is sane and where people can work together cohesively to a common goal,” Cameron said, “or a place where everybody’s at each other’s throats, extremely polarized, turning its back on science and basically would be in utter disarray if another pandemic appears?”
The clip, part of a wide-ranging interview that was “more than a decade in the making,” was released on Jan. 21. The full conversation debuts in syndication over the Jan. 24 weekend.
USA TODAY has reached out to Cameron’s team for comment.
Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis Cameron bought a farm in 2000, he told Bensinger. And when “COVID hit” while he and his family [were] outside of New Zealand for Christmas, “I had to move mountains to get our production unit back up and running in New Zealand, and we just decided at that time it was time to make the move as a family.”
They made the move permanent around August 2021.
“The United States is a fantastic place to live, but New Zealand is just stunningly beautiful,” Bensinger told the filmmaker.
“Is it?” Cameron replied. “I’m not there for the scenery; I’m there for the sanity.”
The Camerons grow organic vegetables — specifically brassicas which include broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
Not to be that girl (except that I am so that girl), I just want to stress again that Cameron had already moved to New Zealand to live out his billion-dollar Avatar dreams. It’d be more accurate to say that the reason he’s stayed in New Zealand is because of the f–ked up anti-science anti-vaxx movement that’s being legitimized in the US and putting millions of people at risk and unnecessarily killing children whose parents should know better. Which is a very valid reason to emigrate… if you can afford to do so, and therein lies the rub for most of us. I don’t believe I’m alone in thinking that even when James Cameron makes a good point, he somehow manages to do it in a way that’s a turn off, yes? For instance, when Bensinger comments how beautiful New Zealand is, and Cameron responds, “Is It? I’m not there for the scenery; I’m there for the sanity.” This man is a director, he works in a visual medium ffs! You can appreciate New Zealand’s landscape and still staunchly oppose what’s going on in America; one doesn’t take away from the other! Then again, this tracks for a 71-year-old man who’s still salty about a joke from 2013.
Anyway, I think we can take this interview to mean that he will continue living in New Zealand, even if Avatar: Fire and Ash had a significant drop in box office from the first two films. After all, there is the broccoli to grow.
Photos credit: Thomas Floyd/Avalon, Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon and via Instagram
Please don’t think me nitpicky for this but James Cameron’s home country is Canada, not the US. He’s never even attempted to gain US citizenship and is adamant that he never will
Really? I never knew that!
I still can’t believe this man decided to take all of his talent and resources to make…like ten Avatar movies. I saw the first one in the theater in 3D because it was kind of a big deal at the time, but can’t imagine sitting through another.
And yeah, it must be nice to have enough money to just pick up and move your entire life to someplace “sane” right now, but talking about it constantly isn’t going to win him any fans since the vast majority of the population obviously doesn’t have that option. He and Clooney both come across as completely tone deaf imo.
Yes, according to his Wikipedia page, he applied for US citizenship back in 2004, but withdrew the application when Bush won the election. He became a New Zealand citizen last August.
Your comment made me go re-read the paragraph about the U.S. being a “fantastic place to live but N.Z. is stunningly beautiful” again. At first, I thought that J. Cameron said it. When I first read the interview, I must confess I also thought that James Cameron did not strike me as someone who voted, contributed money, resources, or supported causes that benefited people other than himself, or God forbid spoke up when injustices happened. Now, it all makes sense. He strikes me as someone who left his home country, came to America to “pick up a lot of money” without really contributing anything worthwhile, then he flees to New Zealand (with the money he’s made in the U.S.). And he has the nerve to be smug about it. It all sounds very parasitic. The fact that he either has not noticed the natural beauty of his new country, or doesn’t care to express it, indicates that he does nothing to preserve it either. I’m sure when N.Z. stops being of use to him, he’ll ditch it too. Good riddance.
Without contributing anything worthwhile?
Culture is worthwhile.
And I’m pretty sure his films, including (but not limited to) Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies and Titanic all contributed to the culture.
Most of these were also filmed in or at least partially produced in the US too, employing many people.
It’s good to be rich. It’s bad that the US doesn’t make the rich pay taxes.
Please folks get all your vaccines possible, whether on the adult updates schedule and/or for your children, while you can. RKF Jr and his grifting affiliates are starting to force them off the market and companies as a result are curbing R&D into new, improved vaccines. And please remember, vaccination works best as a community health measure: Individual vaccination becomes less protective as viral transmission increases around you. It’s not the vaccines’ fault; it’s the loss of viral suppression. This means masking and clean air become essential again as they were in the earlier years of the ongoing COVID pandemic. Too bad respirator use has been stigmatized (and ICE agents are not wearing respirators or even surgicals, so that’s different).
well said. yes. all of this. all the upvotes.
I spent a magical 3 weeks in New Zealand a few years ago, and … I’d move there in a second if I could. Everyone was so nice, the place is beyond gorgeous, it wasn’t an expensive trip, we had some wonderful food…
10/10 trip would do it again in a heartbeat.
I have collaborated with a lot of kiwis through work and hobbies, as it happens, and I have found them to be phenomenally cool. I’d love to visit.
I am so glad you are ‘that girl’ so we can be ‘those b!tc35’ together. This resonated with me, “I don’t believe I’m alone in thinking that even when James Cameron makes a good point, he somehow manages to do it in a way that’s a turn off, yes?” What is *with* that? Like, how can you be so unpleasant when even the most agreeable things you say are kinda… ‘okay, well that’s a take and I’m good now, please stop’ you know??