James Cameron raises his Oscar after winning Best Director for his film Titanic at the 1998 Academy Awards. (Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images)

After making a gazillion dollars on Titanic, director James Cameron basically went AWOL.

It’s easy to forget this during the publicity onslaught for his new film, Avatar, but the question “Whatever happened to James Cameron?” was asked countless times over the past 12 years.

After making a gazillion dollars on Titanic, director James Cameron basically went AWOL.

Had the Canadian-born director renounced feature filmmaking? Was he gun-shy about shooting a follow-up to Titanic? Certainly, a quick sequel to the 1997 mega-hit was out of the question, since most of the lead characters [Warning: rather unnecessary spoiler alert] drown during the movie’s soggy conclusion.

A dozen years — that’s an eternity in Hollywood, a town with the attention span of a five-year-old hopped up on Cocoa Puffs and SpongeBob SquarePants. Leo DiCaprio used Titanic as a stepping stone to a career as Martin Scorsese’s go-to leading man; co-star Kate Winslet has since become a perennial Oscar nominee.

But Cameron? At times, it seemed as if he was following the example of baseball’s Ted Williams: hitting a home run and then retiring from the game. Of course, that didn’t happen. Renowned for his on-set intensity and, well, unshakeable sense of self-worth, Cameron just couldn’t stay away.

Here’s how Cameron spent those dozen years in the wilderness — a guide to his meandering path between Titanic and Avatar.

March 23, 1998: Oscar ceremony

While accepting the Best Director award for Titanic, Cameron immodestly proclaims sovereignty over the entire planet. “I’m the king of the world!” he bellows, in an ill-advised rehash of DiCaprio’s famous line in the film.

June 4, 2000: Marries Suzy Amis

Cameron's TV series Dark Angel ran for two seasons and introduced the world to Jessica Alba. (Fox Video)

Clue #1 that Cameron is fixated on Titanic and might have trouble moving on: he marries Suzy Amis, who appeared in the film as Lizzy Calvert, the granddaughter of 100-year-old Rose Dawn Calvert (played by Gloria Stuart).

Oct. 3, 2000: Dark Angel debuts

After some speculation that he’d work on the Spiderman franchise, Cameron co-created, wrote and produced the TV series Dark Angel, set in 2020 in post-apocalyptic Seattle. As Cameron told the National Post, “I don’t feel I need to limit myself to feature film directing just because I’ve been successful at it. I look on myself as an artist and a scientist.” This bioengineering action-drama lasted just two seasons, and is mainly remembered for introducing Jessica Alba to the world.

2000: Life on Mars?

Speculation continues about Cameron’s long-rumoured — and still unrealized — “Mars project.” He tells the National Post, “I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of research over the past 14 months, going to the NASA centres, meeting and drinking with astronauts, and doing the same in Russia.”

December 2002: Expedition: Bismarck

Clue #2 that Cameron is fixated on Titanic and might have trouble moving on: he produces and directs a documentary for the Discovery Channel on another famous sunken vessel, the German warship the Bismarck. He tells the New York Times, “I know some people might have trouble connecting the dots.” Actually, it wasn’t much trouble at all: famous shipwreck, then another famous shipwreck. We get it.

April 2003: Ghosts of the Abyss

Clue #3 that Cameron is fixated on Titanic and might have trouble moving on: people are starting to notice that instead of shooting a feature film followup to Titanic, Cameron delivers a 3-D Imax movie about the very same ship. He tells the New York Times, “I’ve been working on tons of other stuff in the meantime, but they see Titanic-Titanic, so it seems that there’s a fixation.” Strange how that works.

2005-2006: Entourage

Cameron appears as himself on the HBO series Entourage. In an extended storyline, he directs Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier) in a big-screen version of the Aquaman comic book. Yes, even in the fictional world, Cameron is drawn back to the water. In real life, however, he remains on the directing sidelines.

June 2005: inching back to feature filmmaking

The Hollywood Reporter says Cameron is developing two feature film projects, both to be shot in 3-D: Battle Angel, based on a series of Japanese graphic novels about a female action hero; and Project 880, which would eventually morph into Avatar.

January-April 2006

Cameron writes the Avatar script. It’s about a wounded soldier who visits the planet of Pandora. There’s great potential for CGI and “performance capture” technology. Also, typically, great potential for a hefty budget. (Avatar winds up costing approximately $237 million U.S.)

January 2007: Finally, a followup to the boat movie

Movie website IMDb.com reports that shooting on Avatar will start in April of that year. The story notes that Cameron has spent years perfecting a new 3-D technology. In the article, Cameron describes himself as “the busiest unemployed director in Hollywood.” With typical understatement, he adds, “We’re going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre in a way you haven’t seen for a long time. My goal is to rekindle those amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the next generation’s Star Wars. It took me 10 years to find something hard enough to be interesting.” Is the king of the world coming to reclaim his throne?

Cameron is inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2008. (Jag Gundu/Getty Images)

2007: The Lost Tomb of Jesus

Cameron serves as executive producer on Canadian director Simcha Jacobovici’s controversial documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which claims that the “Tomb of the Ten Ossuaries” actually belonged to Jesus of Nazareth’s family.

Sept. 6, 2008: Canada’s Walk of Fame

Cameron receives his star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, alongside Bryan Adams, Michael J. Fox, k.d. lang and the Kids in the Hall. At the ceremony, he claims to possess that distinctly Canadian trait, modesty: “Being king of the world, it’s not a trait usually associated with me, but being Canadian has taught me humility before the great task.”

Aug. 21, 2009: Avatar Day

Fox Studios declares Aug. 21 “Avatar Day,” and offers a 16-minute sneak peek of the film on screens around the world.

Dec. 18, 2009:

Avatar is released worldwide.

Greig Dymond writes about the arts for CBC News.