James Cameron claims that the much anticipated, Avatar has been “the hardest and most rewarding film project [of his] so far.” He also shares that has been his most time consuming project to date. With 1700 computer generated shots, the film has eaten up two years of his life with another year to go.

Cameron spoke with The Hour about the project to end all projects, his full length futuristic 3-D extravaganza, Avatar. He didn’t need to be asked about the technology in the film in order to geek out about it: “We’re working with computer generated characters that we want to be photo realistic, meaning that, you can’t tell the difference between the photograph portion of the movie and the CG portion. It’s been tough. We’ve set the bar high and we’ve had to create a lot of new technology to do it.” Well, that is not going to help calm the deafening hype created by fans across the globe.

So, where is production of the movie at right now? Cameron states “We’re finished with the actors. Their performances are wonderful and we’re just kind of in this CG hell. You know, trying to create a world from scratch.” One of those actors just so happens to be Sigourney Weaver, with whom he worked on the second Aliens movie.

When it comes to writing women, Cameron just tries to keep it real. “For me, it’s a fun challenge, as a male, to write a female character and have them be not just guys with tits… You can’t treat a female action character as a soulless warrior… or women won’t relate to her.” I’m intrigued. Bring on the soulful action princesses.

Avatar is set for release of Christmas time 2009. Watch the full interview with JC below: