I understand your confusion. When you saw they headline ‘Is James Cameron Making A 3D Movie On Mars?’ you naturally thought we meant he wanted to make a film about Mars. But no, we didn’t, it appears he wants to actually put together a 3D film that was literally shot on Mars.
And this isn’t purely some complete pie in the sky plan that’s on his i’m-the-king-of-the-world fantasy list, it’s apparently a genuine possibility. According to the Pasadena Star News (via /Film), Cameron has met with NASA officials to lobby for them to mount a high-resolution 3D colour camera on their next-generation Mars explorer, Curiosity. Although a similar camera was included in the initial plans, due to escalating costs, it was cut out, but Cameron wants it back! He feels that such images would help the public connect with the mission.
Apparently NASA is now buying just such a 3D camera, thanks to Cameron’s nudging, although the main question is whether it’ll be ready in time for the planned 2011 launch.
Although nothing has been announced, with Cameron now considered a co-investigator for the mast camera, the presumption is that he plans to take the footage and turn it into some sort of documentary. It would certainly be pretty cool, as while the images we normally see of Mars make it look like a very static environment, there is apparently more going on there than you might expect. And if Cameron has his way, we’ll see it in 3D.