Fox mulling 'Avatar' summer re-release

Get ready for "Avatar"-plus.

James Cameron and Fox are in discussions about rereleasing "Avatar," primarily in 3D theaters, in late summer -- and, tantalizingly, with additional scenes that had been left on the cutting-room floor in the rush to ready the epic for its Dec. 18 release.

The impetus for a rerelease is the feeling that, even though "Avatar" is the highest-grossing movie of all time, producers could have raked in even more money had they been able to hold on to the digital and Imax 3D screens that were lost when Disney opened "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D on March 5.

As for how much additional footage Cameron might add to "Avatar," the guessing began early Thursday when Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said during a Gabelli & Co. investor conference in New York that Cameron had about 40 minutes of additional material that didn't make the theatrical cut. He also predicted a rerelease, which he said probably would occur in the fall.

Cameron had said that he had 10-12 minutes of extra scenes that he cut and could quickly put through postproduction and have ready to add to a director's cut for a theatrical reissue or as an extra on the DVD release. One scene has to do with Jake Sully's avatar proving himself to the Na'vi people; the other involves a native festival during which tribe member Tsu'tey gets drunk.

The maximum length a movie can be released in analog Imax theaters is 170 minutes -- a number Cameron was aware of when he made his original edit -- so he could add about 10 minutes to the 160-minute current run time and still be in all Imax locations. That seems more likely than trying to add as much as 40 minutes.

The week before "Alice" arrived, Fox's movie still was minting millions in 4,215 North American theaters, including 179 Imax sites. This week, it dropped to a theater count of 667, including eight Imax 3D locations, resulting in a 41% week-over-week drop in grosses.

Through March 4, "Avatar" had grossed $127.1 million of its $712.5 million domestic haul in Imax theaters; this week's giant-screen take was $175,884.

"Avatar" has done more than 80% of its domestic business in 3D theaters, which represented fewer than half of its runs.

The film also has grossed $1.9 billion outside North America for a total of about $2.6 billion. It has helped expand 3D globally and broken records worldwide.

When "Avatar" was forced off Imax screens -- after the longest and most lucrative run in Imax history -- to accommodate "Alice," Fox saw increased grosses on nearby digital 3D screens, an indication that demand remains.

How much did the film leave behind? Cameron was in New York this week for a demonstration of 3D TV and told USA Today, "The word we're getting back from exhibitors is we probably left a couple hundred million dollars on the table as a result."

The summer rerelease would follow a home video premiere in 2D form, which will happen as soon as next month and no later than May.

Cameron told USA Today there might be a Blu-ray Disc release of the 3D version for home use as early as the fall, but Fox studio sources indicate that is unlikely. They believe there won't be enough of an installed base of 3D TV sets to make that worthwhile and said it is more likely to come next year.

Cameron and Fox also are in discussions about one or two sequels to "Avatar" that would use many of the digital "assets" that were created for the original. There is no script or deal in place, but the filmmaker and studio have indicated that it is something they would like to do.

"Avatar" may be the ultimate big-screen experience, but how will it fit into the living rooms of America?

That's the challenge presented to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, which on Tuesday will announce some unconventional plans for the DVD and Blu-ray release of the highest-grossing film in the history of Hollywood box office.

"Avatar" will hit stores on April 22, and instead of a disc loaded with extras, it will be just the opposite -- a lean-and-mean approach with only the movie and a relatively simple menu function, a move made to exploit every bit of disc space for the top-of-the-line audio and video presentation of the film, according to the movie's producer, Jon Landau.

In fact, according to sources at Fox, "Avatar" will make history as the first Blu-ray new release from a major studio to hit stores without a single trailer or promotional content of any kind.

"We went to Fox and told them that, for this movie, we wanted to do something really special and reach for the best presentation of any film in the history of the format," Landau said. "This is a movie that has done the unexpected every step of the way. Fox agreed with us and the result is amazing. Everything that is put on a disc takes up room -- the menus, the extras, the trailers and studio promotions -- and we got rid of all of that so we could give this movie the best picture and sound possible."

In another unusual wrinkle, "Avatar" will reach shelves on a Thursday as opposed to the traditional Tuesday release day, so it can coincide with Earth Day. Fox is poised to announce a special environmental campaign that will key off of that date and the film's themes of ecological harmony. Landau and writer-director James Cameron will attend an March 23 press event in West Hollywood where they will discuss the release, the environmental tie-in and plans for a multi-disc "ultimate version" that will follow in November.

One thing the home-video release won't be is 3-D. Just as Cameron took years to make "Avatar" while waiting for the technology that lived up to his visual aspiration, the filmmaker is holding back the 3-D-in-the-home version until the nascent marketplace catches up. Reports that the 3-D version will be released later this year are wrong, according to Fox sources.

Nonetheless, Landau said anyone who watches the 2-D home-video version of the film -- especially the Blu-ray edition -- will be "blown away" by the clarity, color and depth of the image. Typically, the compression sessions that take a theatrical release into the Blu-ray version last two weeks, but for this project the labor stretched out to six weeks.

Consumers will not be getting that hard work for cheap; "Avatar" arrives at retail with premium pricing. For the Earth Day release, the single-disc version of "Avatar" will have a suggested retail price of $29.98 on DVD and $39.99 on Blu-ray. A source at Fox said the "shelf" prices at many retailers will be closer to $19.99 for the DVD and $29.99 for the Blu-ray.

Fox is hoping "Avatar" will make home-video history, rivaling the fastest-selling title ever, "The Dark Knight," which sold 3 million copies its first day in stores in December 2008 (600,000 of those on Blu-ray). CinemaScore, which has been doing consumer research with the Blu-ray format since October 2008, reports that "purchase intent" among consumers is higher for "Avatar" than any previous title. Also, Fox research suggests that a significant percentage of surveyed moviegoers said they plan to use the arrival of "Avatar" as an impetus to switch to the Blu-ray format.

"Avatar" opened in theaters on Dec. 18 and has grossed $2.6 billion worldwide. Landau said he believes the film will continue to do well at theaters and find a different sort of success on home video. He dismissed the suggestion that the 3-D epic will be cramped in the far smaller 2-D home-theater setting.

"There are details that you can see on the Blu-ray that are just amazing," Landau said. "And the reason the movie has done so well isn't because of the 3-D, it's because of the story and the messages and the imagination. The way I view the Blu-ray is a chance for people to go back to Pandora."

-- Geoff Boucher