It may be a long way off but the idea of Ubisoft and 20th Century Fox getting behind the next James Cameron film to create a game has got the industry in a bit of a spin.

The film, Avatar, isn’t due out until May 2009 but given Cameron’s pedigree with films such as The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day there are high hopes for Avatar with a cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver.

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people.

James Cameron said, "For the movie ‘Avatar’ we are creating a world rich in character, detail, conflict and cultural depth. It has the raw material for a game that the more demanding gamers of today will want to get their hands on - one that is rich in visuals and ideas, and challenging in play.

“I told the Ubisoft team I wanted them to be free to do their very best work, and not think of this as a movie-based game. They responded with a fully realized presentation which captured the soul of the world and the characters, while promising to be a knockout game on its own terms. Their passion inspired my confidence that they are going to do something transcendental."