Speaking out about his directing style in a recent Masterclass event, the 'Avatar' helmer reflects on his reputation for being dominant as a director and describes himself as a 'tinpot dictator'.

• Jun 28, 2021

AceShowbiz - James Cameron has vowed to channel his "inner Ron Howard" after admitting he regrets his behavior on movie sets in the past.

The filmmaker spoke out about his directing style in a recent Masterclass event, describing himself as a "tinpot dictator" and revealing he wishes he'd been a nicer director like his peer.

"I could've listened more. I could've been less autocratic," he said, reported Slash Film. "I could've not made the movie more important than the human interaction of the crew."

Cameron also reflected on his reputation for being dominant as a director and admitted a visit to Howard's film set left him "dumbfounded" at how much time he took to compliment people.

"I aspire, even today, to try to be my inner Ron Howard," he noted.

Cameron is currently filming "Avatar 4" and "Avatar 5", while working on post-production for "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3".

Earlier this year, Cameron admitted to come close to firing his "Avatar" sequel writers' room. "When I sat down to write the sequels, I knew there were going to be three at the time and eventually it turned into four," he recalled when sitting down with Marianne Williamson.

"I put together a group of writers and said, 'I don't want to hear anybody's new ideas or anyone's pitches until we have spent some time figuring out what worked on the first film, what connected, and why it worked,' " he continued. "They kept wanting to talk about the new stories. I said, 'We aren't doing that yet.' "

"Eventually, I had to threaten to fire them all because they were doing what writers do, which is to try and create new stories," the filmmaker went on to spill. "I said, 'We need to understand what the connection was and protect it, protect that ember and that flame.' "