Although James Cameron himself admitted that the  Avatar franchise will take up the rest of the career, he now has a project that will potentially give him a bit of a breather. While he’s hard at work at scripting and developing back-to-back sequels for his record-setting blockbuster, The Hollywood Reporter has news on his next venture.

The trade reports that Cameron, and his production company, have picked up rights to Taylor Stevens’ thriller novel The Informationist with the intention that the helmer will produce, as well as direct, for 20th Century Fox. Falling in line with strong female leads as seen in Aliens or Terminator 2, this project follows a character who has already drawn comparisons to Lisbeth Salander of the Millennium Trilogy, with a stylistic bent to Sherlock Holmes.

With the Avatar sequels not coming for at least another four to five years, it will be a long, long time before we see this one — if at all. Nonetheless, it’s nice to know that Cameron has some other interest than just Pandora, no matter how much money that brings in for him, but hopefully this doesn’t mean the end of Battle Angel. With a writer coming on shortly, check out a synopsis of  Stevens’ novel below via Amazon:

Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle’s most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she’s never looked back.

Until now.

A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget.

Gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival or a thrilling new talent.

Would you like to see Cameron direct this project post-Avatar?