While all eyes are on the growing box office for James Cameron's decade-plus in the making sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water," the famed director made a surprise appearance at the Television Critics Association Winter 2023 press tour to announce two more projects with his name on them. Both of Cameron's new projects are documentary series for National Geographic focused on conservation and his own love of our natural environment.

"Secrets of the Bees" and "Secrets of the Penguins" will be the new installments to the filmmaker's ongoing "Secrets" series for NatGeo, which began its run in 2021 with "Secrets of the Whales," which, looking back on it, was a big tip of the hat to the best new character in the "Avatar" sequel. Payakan tribe unite!

These two additions to the documentary series will be coming down the line, but first up is the latest installment, which is called "Secrets of the Elephants." The trailer for which can be viewed below:

Cameron's Curiosity Keeps Bringing Him Back To The Natural World

James Cameron's love for the environment has been a longtime passion for the filmmaker, as is evidenced by his great passion for "Avatar," a story that is all about respecting the natural world and how evil deforestation and mining can be. He has also made a lot of documentaries over the years, including a 3D spectacle from 2014 funded, again, by National Geographic called "Deepsea Challenge" which saw the filmmaker traveling to the deepest depths of the ocean to explore and photograph the unique life down at the sea floor, many of which had never been recorded by mankind.

That same curiosity is at play with his National Geographic "Secrets" series. Variety quotes him as saying that there are a ton of challenges telling these stories because animals don't show up at a call time and that this process is "an exercise in patience." Yet, he keeps going back to these nature docs time and time again. As he said:

"What draws me to it is my endless curiosity and fascination with the natural world and how it works, and how rapidly science is starting to answer these questions about how animals communicate."

These docs not only scratch a curiosity itch for Cameron, but they also provide him something of a testing ground for new cameras and cutting-edge equipment precisely because capturing a scene from nature is way harder than executing a meticulously planned filming schedule. It's what kept Cameron sharp in the long span between "Titanic" and "Avatar" and between "Avatar" and its recent sequel.

As was previously mentioned, the next installment of his "Secrets" series will be "Secrets of the Elephants" and it will premiere on April 21, 2023, on National Geographic.

Read this next: The 10 Most Visually Beautiful Scenes In Avatar: The Way Of Water

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