James Cameron's Avatar - news, rumors, castings..

[Nick Martin]

Originally Posted by Mordred

This bitch wouldn't:

Spoiler:

Of course!

Very true.

[Lqv2015]

Definitely my most anticipated movie of 09. Give it to us hard Mr. Cameron.

[Solid Snake PAC]

Originally Posted by TomOpus

And I'm still keeping the faith for "True Lies 2"

Fuck that, I want a anamorphic special edition of this thing. It's the ultimate love letter to the 80s action films being sent by the very God of 80s American action cinema.

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by troystiffler

I was around the same age. It was actually released on my birthday and I wanted to see Tomorrow Never Dies instead of Titanic.

It made $20mil-or-so the first weekend (#2 after TND). There never was that much hype. The local small theater sold out on the weekends. But I remember seeing it after a few months and the theater was almost empty. And the movie stayed afloat (get it?) for like four-or-six months. And then "Lost in Space" beat it out after a few months.

Correction: Titanic was #1 in its opening weekend with $28.6M. TND was #2 at $25.1M. The hype started very late with its 8 Golden Globe nominations announced just before its release. I got this from Box Office Guru. It's funny reading the box office reports from '97 as the writer was predicting a final domestic gross of around $150M based on its opening weekend. No one was even remotely thinking $600M.

Avatar on the other hand will be heavily hyped as the first "real" movie from Cameron since Titanic. Its sci-fi plot will have the geeks out in full force too scrutinizing every single image and clip they can get their hands on.

[Giles]

from DCinema:

Los Angeles—Nov 6, 2008 James Cameron's Avatar to Be Released in IMAX(R) 3D on December 18th 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Enlists IMAX 3D to Complete Format Menu for Moviegoers

IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX; TSX: IMX) and Twentieth Century Fox today announced that they have reached agreement on material terms to release the highly anticipated 3D motion picture Avatar in IMAX(R)3D simultaneously with the motion picture's premiere in conventional 3D theatres on December 18, 2009. Avatar is directed and written by Academy Award Winner James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. Cameron will also produce with his Lightstorm Entertainment partner, Jon Landau. Avatar will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R).

"Our goal with Avatar is to revolutionize live-action 3D moviemaking, and I have no doubt that it will look and sound incredible in IMAX 3D," said director James Cameron. "The larger field of view and powerful surround sound of an IMAX(R) theatre will completely immerse the audience in a way that cannot be experienced anywhere else."

"We are delighted to be releasing Avatar in all available theatrical formats, and by including the premium IMAX 3D format, we can give consumers the entire spectrum of choice at the box office," said Bruce Snyder, President, Domestic Distribution, Twentieth Century Fox. "The IMAX theatre network is increasingly becoming an important part of our distribution strategy, as it continues to expand with its new digital projection system."

"Avatar is one of the most anticipated movies of 2009 and it is a powerful addition to our film slate," said IMAX Co-CEO's Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We are particularly pleased with Twentieth Century Fox's increasing interest in the IMAX theatre network, which is largely fueled by the rollout of our digital projection systems and IMAX's track record of strong box office performance."

"James Cameron is a genius filmmaker. His vision and 3D expertise make Avatar a natural fit for IMAX and we believe it will resonate with our audiences as well as the millions of James Cameron fans across the globe," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "Every aspect of this film was meticulously designed for 3D, so when audiences experience this revolutionary film in an IMAX 3D theatre, they will feel as if they are actually IN the movie.

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars(R) including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.

[Suprmallet]

Managing a theater with both IMAX and Digital 3D, I prefer Digital 3D. The only advantage IMAX has is that it pumps more watts into the sound, but both IMAX and digital cinema have uncompressed audio. As far as the 3D itself goes, I think the digital is visibly better. Needless to say, that is how I will be seeing Avatar.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

Managing a theater with both IMAX and Digital 3D, I prefer Digital 3D. The only advantage IMAX has is that it pumps more watts into the sound, but both IMAX and digital cinema have uncompressed audio. As far as the 3D itself goes, I think the digital is visibly better. Needless to say, that is how I will be seeing Avatar.

I agree, I see more ghosting on IMAX 3D versus Digital 3D - I of course prefer the latter. Now considering Cameron shoots in super35, I'm surprised more studios who know which films will get shown in both IMAX and standard theatres don't shoot with IMAX in mind, i.e, 2.35 for the theatre, and open matte for the more box like aspect ratio of IMAX (1.44).

[True_Story1011]

How is this film being shot?
traditional or in first person?

[sauce07]

Originally Posted by True_Story1011

How is this film being shot?
traditional or in first person?

Are you asking if the entire flick is filmed in first person?

[Zen Peckinpah]

I don't know if this is being shot first person,

Spoiler:

but I'm sure the porno version, Labiatar, will almost undoubtedly be done that way.

[chris_sc77]

First look at creatures in this film:
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/11/21/...-art-revealed/

..Looks pretty gay IMO. And not in a good way..

[riley_dude]

Originally Posted by chris_sc77

First look at creatures in this film:
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/11/21/...-art-revealed/

..Looks pretty gay IMO. And not in a good way..

Gay like in flaming?


I look forward to this movie.

[NoirFan]

First on-set photo:

[Moonstone]

After seeing that photo, I look forward to this with great interest.

[Jaymole]

OMG, from that photo this looks amazing...look at those knobs!!!

[Kicker_of_Elves]

[Kal-El]

photo doesn't do anything for me, but I am excited that there's a James Cameron film to look forward to in the very near future.

[GameOver]

This guy has a vision like no other director,he NEVER disappoints and he actually cares about getting every scene right in his movies,the guy is a visionist.

My most atticatpoed movie of 2009,i only hope he doesnt wait another 10 years for his follow up to Avatar.

[Sessa17]

Eh. Would rather have seen him do Aquaman.

[DarkestPhoenix]

I thought he was just going to use a picture of DiCaprio for his Avatar...

[JPRaup]

Today The New York Times unveiled a new photo from James Cameron’s new 3-D sci-fi epic, Avatar:



Also more info on the set photo + First Avatar Trailer to debut with Transformers 2? http://.com/2009/01/12/n...transfomers-2/

Take that with a grain of salt, but it could be a possibility.

[JPRaup]

Someone else that worked on Avatar replied specifically to my post, so I updated it: http://.com/2009/01/12/n...transfomers-2/

The reader Cames replied with this:

Okay look let’s get the facts straight. I didn’t have any lofty position in the Avatar project like this alleged novi, but I did work on construction. I did not work on this particular set but still laid my own eyes on it while another construction team fabbed it. (I was on most of MODS fabrications - science mod, cmod, etc.) I am not under any contract, my company is under non-disclosure contract. I had to sign nothing, simply instructed it’s confidential.
This is NOT the space shuttle, it’s not even an aircraft, it is a lab. The green screen is not the backdrop for ship portals to see space, it’s going to be CGI’d as a terrarium backdrop where they will have CGI samples of the planet’s fauna. Novi is correct about the chamber, but it does not belong on that stage set, it just happened to be there at the time, I know because I worked on the chambers on the set it belongs to. Film volumes are cluttered people, crammed with props, you can’t keep everything tidy and sorted all the time. It was likely moved there for eye candy symmetry for that particular still. The blue-gray color theme is pretty much the common theme for all MODS and higher grade craft interiors.
The Avatar trailer date has not, I repeat not - been decided. Ther is no release date yet. Apparently there is studio execs and production crew internal squabble about the date, going on. The studio wants it sooner and production wants more time for a quality trailer.
You get no cheesy woops from me, I just can’t stand these blowhards popping online spreading jacked up information.

So looks like trailer isn't set it stone, but there is some new info on the photo.

[Wolf359]

Pretty good article on 3D film making and Avatar in particular.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...6541-1,00.html





Excerpt pertaining to Avatar:


The Future of 3-D
Cameron's Avatar, due in December, could be the thing that forces theaters to convert to digital. Spielberg predicts it will be the biggest 3-D live-action film ever. More than a thousand people have worked on it, at a cost in excess of $200 million, and it represents digital filmmaking's bleeding edge. Cameron wrote the treatment for it in 1995 as a way to push his digital-production company to its limits. ("We can't do this," he recalled his crew saying. "We'll die.") He worked for years to build the tools he needed to realize his vision. The movie pioneers two unrelated technologies--e-motion capture, which uses images from tiny cameras rigged to actors' heads to replicate their expressions, and digital 3-D.

Avatar is filmed in the old "Spruce Goose" hangar, the 16,000-sq.-ft. space where Howard Hughes built his wooden airplane. The film is set in the future, and most of the action takes place on a mythical planet, Pandora. The actors work in an empty studio; Pandora's lush jungle-aquatic environment is computer-generated in New Zealand by Jackson's special-effects company, Weta Digital, and added later.

I couldn't tell what was real and what was animated--even knowing that the 9-ft.-tall blue, dappled dude couldn't possibly be real. The scenes were so startling and absorbing that the following morning, I had the peculiar sensation of wanting to return there, as if Pandora were real.

Cameron wasn't surprised. One theory, he says, is that 3-D viewing "is so close to a real experience that it actually triggers memory creation in a way that 2-D viewing doesn't." His own theory is that stereoscopic viewing uses more neurons. That's possible. After watching all that 3-D, I was a bit wiped out. I was also totally entertained.

The original version of this story misstated the cost of the film Avatar as being in excess of $300 million. The correct figure is in excess of $200 million.

[Matthew Ackerly]

Enough hype.. lets see some goddamn footage already.

[Ash Ketchum]

Originally Posted by Wolf359

Pretty good article on 3D film making and Avatar in particular.



Excerpt pertaining to Avatar:


The Future of 3-D


Avatar is filmed in the old "Spruce Goose" hangar, the 16,000-sq.-ft. space where Howard Hughes built his wooden airplane.

I couldn't tell what was real and what was animated--even knowing that the 9-ft.-tall blue, dappled dude couldn't possibly be real.

Spruce Goose, huh? And we all know what happened to that one.

"9-ft.-tall blue, dappled dude?" What, did Dr. Manhattan have a brother? And will this one be naked, too, giving the "D" in "3-D" a whole new meaning?