The director Oliver Stone called a visionary: “I think he’s a genius”
Not every filmmaker – regardless of how talented or accomplished they are – is cut out for working with monstrous budgets, with Oliver Stone turning out to be one of them after his most expensive production ever culminated in his most infamous professional disaster.
The director had always harboured ambitions of turning the story of Alexander the Great into a sweeping historical epic, and the opportunity finally presented itself once the critical, commercial, and awards season success of Gladiator had made the genre a viable proposition for Hollywood once again.
However, Stone’s passion project would tank at the box office and become a source of crushing disappointment for almost everyone involved. Star Colin Farrell was confident that the Academy Awards would come calling, but in the end, he had to make to for the Golden Raspberries, where Alexander earned six nominations.
It’s the one and only time that Stone flirted with a budget in excess of $100million, and it couldn’t have gone much worse. Martin Scorsese is hardly somebody who could be called a blockbuster auteur, either, and yet six of his last nine features have cost at least nine figures to produce and deliver the goods.
There are just certain auteurs much better equipped to paint on a bigger canvas than others, and in terms of nothing but records being broken, awards being won, and boundaries being pushed, James Cameron may well be the best of all.
Having made the most expensive film in history on at least four occasions, he’s also directed the highest-grossing release of all time twice over through Titanic and Avatar, with the latter’s sequel The Way of Water giving him the distinction of having helmed three of the four top-earning movies ever made.
It’s not the sandbox Stone excelled in, nor is it one he’s particularly interested in, but that didn’t stop him from praising Cameron’s achievements. When casting his gaze at the technological advancements being made in the industry, there was only one name on the four-time Oscar winner’s mind.
“Cameron has broken new ground; he’s a visionary,” Stone said to Collider. “I think he’s a genius. Although I’ve done some good technical work and I might surprise you still, he’s really done what Cecil B. DeMille did in another age.” Being compared to one of the founding fathers of American cinema is quite the accolade, but knowing how supremely confident Cameron has always been, he’d probably agree.
From his start under the wing of Roger Corman all the way to the expansive Avatar franchise, Cameron has never let the limitations of technology act as a hurdle towards realising his ambitions, instead taking it upon himself to solve the problem with his latest pioneering breakthroughs.
