Weaver says Cameron should have won Oscar

NEW YORK, April 13 (UPI) -- Sigourney Weaver says her "Avatar" director James Cameron lost the best director Oscar to Kathryn Bigelow because Hollywood wanted to give it to a woman.

Bigelow, Cameron's ex-wife, last month became the first female filmmaker to take home the best director prize. Her low-budget Iraq war movie "The Hurt Locker" also beat out Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar" for the best picture Oscar.

"Jim didn't have breasts, and I think that was the reason," the New York Post said Weaver told the Brazilian news Web site Folha Online during the weekend.

"He should have taken home that Oscar," Weaver added. "In the past, 'Avatar' would have won because (Oscar voters) loved to hand out awards to big productions, like 'Ben-Hur.' Today it's fashionable to give the Oscar to a small movie that nobody saw."

The Post said representatives for Weaver and Cameron didn't respond to its request for comment.

"The Hurt Locker" producers Summit Entertainment, as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences declined to comment on Weaver's remarks, the newspaper said.