Before "Avatar" became the biggest box office hit in history, director James Cameron was considering following up his 1997 smash "Titanic" with an epic, live-action take on the popular Japanese manga (ans its anime adaptation) "Battle Angel Alita." With news of the upcoming "Avatar" sequels, the project was presumed dead, but Cameron recently revealed he's still interested.

In an interview with MTV, the billion-dollar auteur explained why he originally chose to do "Avatar" over "Angel."

“It was a coin toss at that point," he said, "but I see the good the ‘Avatar’ franchise could do in terms of keeping a world audience cognizant of our relationship with nature, but in an entertainment context. So, ultimately, I feel there is more good to be done there than with ‘Battle Angel’ -- [it's] just a great, kickass story.”

The story revolves around the amnesiac cyborg Alita, who is rebuilt by a cybernetics doctor in a post-apocalyptic future world. Eventually, parts of Alita's memory return and she sets out to be a bounty hunter, while still trying to piece together her past.

The "Avatar" sequels will likely take up just about every waking moment of the next 3 - 4 years for the director. However, he's not willing to drop the project quite yet. He declared that the rights “would have to be pried out of my cold dead fingers, but, on the other hand, I don’t wanna take it to my grave, either.”

Stay tuned.