James Cameron Says Rush to 'Cash in the Boom at Theaters' Was the Reason 3D TVs Failed

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James Cameron is offering his two cents on the home 3D experience.

While promoting the re-release of Avatar, the filmmaker discussed the failure of 3D TVs and the future of the experience for users, telling IGN, "I think the jury's out on that."

"I know why all that failed because there was — what they did was they jumped into 3D trying to cash in the boom at theaters and treat it as a feature," he explained. "So, they did 3D, but they did it with glasses that needed to be recharged and all that. Whereas just over the horizon was glasses-free, large flat screen TVs which actually look pretty good."

Jeff Spicer/WireImage James Cameron

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Cameron, 68, continued, "Not everybody is a film geek like I am where you sit down you put the glasses on by yourself and you just watch a whole movie, which is more what the theatrical experience is. So, it kind of got out of step."

Responding to whether the technology could return, he added, "I think it could, but I can't say because the home viewing experience is fundamentally different than the theatrical experience."

"I'm perfectly happy if the only place you can really get it is in a movie theater because it speaks to that specialness of the cinematic experience, which is obviously what the Avatar re-release is in the first place," he added.

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Cameron is known for his work as the director of Avatar which was filmed in 3D technology and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. He also helped create the digital 3D Fusion Camera System which was developed as a way to shoot features in stereoscopic 3D.

The first of four sequels in the Avatar franchise is slated to hit the theaters on Dec. 16 and will be three hours long. During an interview with Empire in July, Cameron spoke about concerns surrounding the duration of the film.

"I don't want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours," Cameron told the outlet.

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"It's like, give me a f-----g break. I've watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row," he continued. "Here's the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: It's okay to get up and go pee."