James Cameron's First Non-'Avatar' Film Since 'Titanic' Is About the Man Who Survived Both Atomic Bombs

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a marine engineer, working for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, on a monthslong business trip to Hiroshima. On Aug. 6, 1945, he was preparing to leave the city when he realized he forgot his identification. He was on his way back to the office when the first atomic bomb ever used in combat, dubbed "Little Boy," detonated just two miles away. While 160,000 people died from the bomb, he survived but was left with a ruptured eardrum and burns covering much of the top half of his body.

On Aug. 9, 1945, Yamaguchi reported for work in his hometown of Nagasaki and was explaining to his boss how a single bomb could destroy a city like Hiroshima. That's when the second atomic bomb, "Fat Man," exploded, once again just two miles away. This explosion killed 70,000 people but left Yamaguchi unhurt, though sick from the radiation.

His miraculous story is the subject of author Charles Pellegrino's new book "Ghosts of Hiroshima," which is due to hit bookshelves on Aug. 5, 2025, in time to mark the 80th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombings. Actor Martin Sheen ("The West Wing," "Apocalypse Now") has been tapped to read the audiobook version of the book. Deadline reports that director James Cameron has already purchased the film rights to "Ghosts of Hiroshima," which will be his first non-"Avatar" film since 1997's "Titanic."

Pellegrino is an author, scientist and historian whose previous works include "Her Name, Titanic," "Ghosts of the Titanic" and "To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima." He has also worked closely with Cameron before, serving as a scientific consultant for the director's "Avatar" films, along with Cameron's 2003 Titanic shipwreck documentary, "Ghosts of the Abyss." His latest book, "Ghosts of Hiroshima," along with Cameron's planned film, have been a labor of love ever since the two met Yamaguchi, who died in 2010.

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Tsutomu Yamaguchi was 29 years old in 1945, and Aug. 6 was supposed to be his last day in the city. He was walking toward the Mitsubishi shipyard when he heard the sound of an airplane overhead. He saw a small object being parachuted from the rear of the lone aircraft in the skies above the city. Then he was blinded by what he called "the lightning of a huge magnesium flare." He dove into a ditch just before he heard the boom that ruptured his eardrums, but he was sucked into the air and thrown into a nearby potato patch.

The fire, dust and ash blotted out the sun, but he watched the signature mushroom cloud from less than two miles from ground zero. His upper body was covered in burns, but he was alive. He somehow made his way to the shipyards, where he found two co-workers who also miraculously survived. He then got to the train station and to his home in Nagasaki, where he went to the hospital. His burns were so severe, even his family couldn't recognize him.

On Aug. 9, 1945, little more than three days later, he went into work. At 11 in the morning, he was called into his supervisor's office. Yamaguchi did his best to explain what happened, but it all seemed incredible. Just as he was telling the story the second atomic bomb exploded just two miles away. There was another white flash, another boom as the shock wave tore through the building. This time, he was unhurt by the immediate blast and went to look for his wife and child. They were in a tunnel when the bomb went off and also survived the blast.

Yamaguchi somehow recovered from the subsequent radiation sickness. He would find work as a translator for the Americans occupying Japan in the years that followed and then resumed his career at Mitsubishi. He was content to live his life, happy that he merely survived until the 2000s, when he became an outspoken advocate for nuclear disarmament.

In 2009, James Cameron and Charles Pellegrino met Yamaguchi at a Nagasaki hospital, where the then-92-year-old was being treated for cancer. Cameron reportedly told the atomic bomb survivor that he wanted to meet him so he could pass the story on to future generations. The threat of nuclear war was reportedly burned into the director's mind when he watched the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold on television as a young child.

"It's a subject that I've wanted to do a film about, that I've been wrestling with how to do it, over the years," Cameron told Deadline. "I met Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just days before he died. He was in the hospital. He was handing the baton of his personal story to us, so I have to do it. I can't turn away from it."

"Ghosts of Hiroshima" will be in bookstores on Aug. 5, 2025, but is available for preorder now. There is currently no timeline for the Martin Sheen-voiced audiobook or for Cameron's production of the film.

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