“Avatar” answers this question: what has James Cameron been doing since sinking “Titanic” and walking away with all those Oscars 12 years ago? BFD asked Cameron a new question: what does his 3D breakthrough mean for everybody else?

BFD: It is rare when top directors see a peer’s film and call it a game-changer, which Michael Mann, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and executives like Jeffrey Katzenberg did after you showed them “Avatar.” How does that recognition affect you?

Cameron: Whatever the awards season has to offer, or not offer, I already feel I’ve gotten the best award a filmmaker can get, that expression of excitement from other directors. I don’t know Michael Mann that well, but he seemed genuinely animated and almost taken back to a fan-like state. But I could see him thinking about integrating it into things he wants to do. When I see a movie that excites me visually, the feeling is extraordinary. I went to see `Lord of the Rings’ for entertainment, but you begin to think, is this something I can incorporate? That’s how this works and it goes in cycles. Peter Jackson inspired me with consummate filmmaking and the specificity of the CG that made me feel a doorway opening that enabled me to make `Avatar.’ Different filmmakers respond differently to `Avatar.’ Some may be interested in the 3D production tools, some in the live-action 3D camera system. Others may look at the CG and see the solution of a problem on a film they’ve always wanted to do. Everyone will incorporate it differently.

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James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic “Avatar” into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million…