Fox News was able to get confirmation from director James Cameron that he will not be directing Cleopatra.

We reported just a few weeks back that James Cameron announced Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will be his next movies, which left Cleopatra in a state of flux. Now the director says he stepped away from the project completely:

"I am not doing Cleopatra. That has been decided."

Cleopatra had been aiming to start production sometime next year, with Angelina Jolie attached to star. It isn't clear which direction the movie will take with James Cameron off the project.

Our report from a few weeks ago indicated that James Cameron would start writing the scripts for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 early next year, with production slated for late 2011. Avatar 2 would be released in December 2014 and Avatar 3 would arrive in theaters in December 2015.