Avatar 2 takes place in the oceans: Cameron

Avatar director James Cameron has made broad hints about what the audience can expect in the sequels to his environmental science-fiction blockbuster, the highest-grossing film of all time.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex blog, the Kapuskasing, Ont.-born director indicated part two would take place in the oceans of the fictional planet Pandora.

"Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment — a different setting … which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative."

Avatar, starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, focused on a future in which humans attempt to take advantage of a valuable mineral on another planet due to Earth's depleted resources.

Avatar was hailed for its groundbreaking filmmaking in which Cameron was able to knit computer-generated imagery, performance capture, animation and 3-D seamlessly.

Cameron said he wants to reduce the production time in the second film by at least 25 per cent.

He also revealed that he's thinking ahead to a third sequel, indicating the plot would expand beyond Pandora to other planets in its "Alpha Centauri AB system."

In addition, he announced in February he would be writing an Avatar book that would examine different backgrounds and facets of the film's main characters.

In the L.A. Times interview, the director also divulged that Avatar's re-release this August will include another six minutes of footage.

While the movie is being released on DVD Thursday, Cameron says he expects people to flock back into the cinemas because they're looking for "that immersive, transportive experience."