UPDATED: Avatar - Footage from the Comic Con Panel and news on Avatar day

James Cameron had some big news about his new sci-fi film, Avatar, at the San Diego Comic Con.

15 minutes of the film will be screened in digital theaters for free across the globe on August 21. After viewing the Avatar footage, I thnk an event such as this will serve the film well—at least, much more so than a typical trailer and marketing campaign.

We’re going to do something unprecedented. It’s a social marketing experiment. We’re going to take over as many IMAX 3D theaters and other select 3D theaters worldwide on August 21 and we’re going to let an international global audience come see 15 minutes of Avatar for free. It’s going to be Avatar day.

UPDATE: Here is the official press release from Fox about Avatar Day.

On August 21, the world will get its first look at director James Cameron’s motion picture epic AVATAR, when Twentieth Century Fox and Cameron debut the film’s trailer everywhere – while select cinemas and IMAX® theaters will screen extended footage prepared by the renowned filmmaker for this global “Avatar Day” event.

The worldwide trailer launch will be presented in all formats, including IMAX® 3-D, IMAX® 2-D, digital 3-D, digital 2-D, and 35mm 2-D. The trailer will also be available online.

The extended look at AVATAR will unspool only on August 21 – and only in 3-D – in select theaters and IMAX®. Details on locations and reserving tickets for this extraordinary and unprecedented experience will be announced soon.

In addition on the 21st, Ubisoft® will unveil the trailer for their videogame James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, and Mattel will reveal the action figures for the film’s Avatar and alien Na’vi characters.

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

AVATAR opens in theaters everywhere December 18, 2009.

HOME

Avatar - Footage of James Cameron's sci-fi 3D film has been seen and it is stunning

The first footage from James Cameron's Avatar has been screened to the public for the first time in Amsterdam at the Cinema Expo International.

It looks as if everyone who saw it was stunned.
Market Saw said: Until now, all we saw was the base in 3D, mostly humans and now the 2 N'avi Avatars.
They look NOTHING like the drawing you've seen. They're living creatures with blue skin, bigger yellow eyes than humans with tails. The avatars even look like their human connectors. You will NOT believe the detail. Jake's character will get a wound in a scene we saw later, it looked so real. You could see beneath the skin's first layer, like only real wounds show. We later meet creatures that look like the evolutionary link between a pherodactyl and a bird. They can connect with the N'avi and hunt with them. They connect with only ONE N'avi and do this by swallowing the N'avi's tail with their mouth so they stay connected.

The world outside is amazing. It all lives, breathes and works.
You will not believe the amount of leaves that look like someone created that jungle for real. Later scenes involved Grace, Norm and Jake in the jungle exploring. Jake encounters a animal which stomps towards him, Grace tells him to stand his ground. He does and the animal backs away to reveal a more sinister animal behind them. Jake fights it and runs.

ComingSoon: “jaw-dropping experience.” … “3-D until now has been used as a gimmick.” On the human characters inhabiting their Avatars: “It took my breath away. I thought–just like you guys–that I’ve seen it all with Gollum, or The Hulk, but Cameron has done it again. These creatures seem so real, that within minutes you forget you’re watching an enormous and very blue CGI character. Even the eyes are totally convincing. The characters have real personalities and a soul.” … “How the hell is it possible that I never once felt like I’ve been watching a movie where almost everything comes out of a computer?” … “The effects are in a league of their own. After some disappointing or even pointless 3-D movies, Avatar maybe the first movie where 3-D is properly utilized.”

Sounds as if James Cameron has got his King of the World hat on with this one. I'm still not sure if the story will be as good as the look of the film.

If you happen to be going to this years Comic Con you may be able to see some footage of the film.

HOME

The plot of James Cameron's Avatar

Avatar Producer Jon Landau spoke to /Film about the plot of James Cameron's 3D Sci-Fi epic. There are lots of spoilers to the plot here so beware.

Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has lost the use of his legs, so he accepts the chance to become part of a mining operation on the planet Pandora, where a new mineral is the solution for Earth's energy production. The planet Pandora is so harsh, the usual armor and environmental suit options aren't enough, so humans have come up with a clone program, combining DNA from humans and Na'Vi, the native species on Pandora, to create half-human, half-Na'Vi Avatars that are a genetic match for the individual human.

Jake Sully's brother was one of the original Avatars, but he's dead now. So the corporation asks Jake to come to Pandora and "pilot" his brother's very expensive Avatar, because his DNA is a match. That means Jake will be able to walk again.

The story flashes forward a few years, and Jake has arrived on Pandora, a planet of indescribable beauty, including the weird flora and fauna and the bioluminescence. Floating mountains soar above 900-foot-tall trees. Working for the mining corporation, Jake has a nasty encounter with a Viperwolf, one of Pandora's vicious creatures, and he nearly dies. But an arrow kills the creature — and it's been fired by one of the Na'Vi, played by Zoe Saldana, who starts telling Jake the truth about life on Pandora.

Jake starts to realize the Na'Vi live in harmony with nature, dangerous as it is, on Pandora. And he decides to help the Na'Vi fight for their freedom from humans — even though it means his Avatar will be driven away, and he'll lose the ability to combine with it. He'll give up his ability to walk, in order to save these noble savages. Landau described the film as not dissimilar to Pocohontas. The power suits make up a small part of the film. Cameron is definitely contemplating a sequel.

People who have seen the 3D footage say it is stunning, especially when you see Pandora at night and everything glows with that bioluminescence that must have been inspired by Cameron's undersea adventures.

Everyone is saying that this is going to change the face of cinema forever. It is sounding a bit like the old Harry Harrison Death World novels mixed in with classic Western stories. It doesn't actually grab me as much as I though it would. I'm really looking to see it all and I want to get lost in Pandora when I put on the 3D glasses.

What if it looks amazing but isn't actually a very good film?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

HOME

Oscar Jaenada has joined The Losers

Some more casting news for the adaption of Andy Diggle and Jock's brilliant comic, The Losers.

Blackfilm.com have the news Oscar Jaenada (The Limits of Control, Che: Part Two) has got the role of Cougar.

Directing the film is Sylvain White. He directed Stomp The Yard and is due to direct Frank Miller's Ronin and Castlevania.

Losers centers around a Special Forces team, who are set up and betrayed by their enigmatic handler, Max, who soon discovers that you should never leave a bunch of black-ops commandos for dead. The Losers regroup for revenge, and to get their names off a pesky CIA death list. For issue after issue, they conducted covert operations against the CIA, and sought to uncover the plans and conspiracies of the powerful, secretive Max.

Previously I've mentioned the casting of Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen, Supernatural) as the leader Clay, Idris Elba (Ultraviolet, Obsessed) is his second-in-command Roque, Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Push) as Jensen, Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) is Aisha, and Columbus Short as Pooch.

Blackfilm also confirm the news that Jason Patric will be playing the role of the big bad Max.

It's all coming together for this film and if it stays true to the comic it should have some amazing action scenes.

Discuss in the forum

HOME

Star Trek - Interview with Karl Urban (McCoy) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura)

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

Star Trek - TV Spot - Do It In

This spot opens with the 'dare' by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood). I'm really looking forward to seeing this film.

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

Chris Evans is almost a Loser

Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four," "Push") is in talks to join the film adaptation of DC Comics/Vertigo comic The Losers reports Mania.com. The comic was created by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock

The story focuses on an elite group of special forces operatives who are betrayed by their handlers and left for dead.

Surviving the setup, they embark on a series of wildcat ops designed to clear their own names and bring down the government agency that sold them out.

Evans would play Jensen, the fast-talking tech whiz of the team. He joins Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Clay, Idris Elba as Roque and Zoe Saldana as Aisha.

Sylvain White is directing and shooting kicks off later this year.

Source: Dark Horizons

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

The Skeptic - New poster for Tom Arnold horror...read into that what you will

I posted the trailer for this film back in February. Now there is a poster.

After the mysterious death of his Aunt, a confirmed skeptic lawyer, Bryan Becket, dismisses reports that her house is haunted and moves in. Immediately occurrences begin he cannot explain. And beyond the occurrences there is something about the house which gnaws at Becket - some strange connection he senses he has with the house's past. Soon, the haunting turns personal, he hears voices suggesting clues to a deep mystery. He questions his sanity, seeks medical help, but instead finds assistance in a young psychic who immediately declares, "There's a very bad secret in this house." Together they embark on a terrifying journey to uncover the secret - a journey which leads them deep into the recesses of The Skeptic's own troubled mind.

Written and directed by Tennyson Bardwell. Starring Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Zoe Saldana
Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

Star Trek - 4 new photos

Some new photos from J J Abrams Star Trek have debuted on the net. Above is Zoe Saldana as Uhura. Below is Simon Pegg as Scotty.

Above is Zachary Quinto as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk.
I can't wait to see this.

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

UPDATED: James Cameron's Avatar - Some footage has been seen

TIME Magazine's Josh Quittner saw brand new footage from James Cameron's highly-anticipated Avatar, which 20th Century Fox plans to release on 18th December. Here are some snippets from the article:

More than a thousand people have worked on it, at a cost in excess of $300 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. 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.

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 sci-fi action-adventure stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang and Matt Gerald.

UPDATE: Thanks to Pam and AMZ for passing along this info - This morning, the blogosphere was rightfully up in arms over the reported cost of James Cameron's 3-D live-action epic, Avatar, which Time said was north of $300 million. It turns out, the movie's not nearly as expensive: it's currently budgeted at more than $200 million, which puts it in relatively the same ballpark as Cameron's last major film, Titanic, which luckily made all of its money back thanks to being the highest-grossing film of all time. - Business Insider

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME - Discuss in the Forum

The Skeptic - Trailer

An early trailer for The Skeptic. After the mysterious death of his Aunt, a confirmed skeptic lawyer, Bryan Becket, dismisses reports that her house is haunted and moves in. Immediately occurrences begin he cannot explain. And beyond the occurrences there is something about the house which gnaws at Becket - some strange connection he senses he has with the house's past. Soon, the haunting turns personal, he hears voices suggesting clues to a deep mystery. He questions his sanity, seeks medical help, but instead finds assistance in a young psychic who immediately declares, "There's a very bad secret in this house." Together they embark on a terrifying journey to uncover the secret - a journey which leads them deep into the recesses of The Skeptic's own troubled mind.

Written and directed by Tennyson Bardwell. Starring Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Zoe Saldana

HOME - Discuss in the Forum

Two more Star Trek posters - Uhura and the Romulan Nero

Here are Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Eric Bana as the Romulan villain Nero from J J Abrams Star Trek. Still not sold on the whole big face on a poster thing they have done for all the posters so far. It's a big sci-fi adventure so why aren't they showing some images of the space craft or alien planets. None of the actors are that big a name (apart from Bana, but he's covered in makeup) so the general public may not get what the posters are advertising.
What do you think of the way Star Trek is being marketed?
Home / Forum / Guestbook

James Cameron’s Avatar to Be Released in IMAX(R) 3D

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

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 - 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.”

HOME / FORUM.

The plot for the new Star Trek movie

EW.com have the plot of the movie as well as the photo on the cover of Kirk and Spock.

Star Trek’s time-travel plot is set in motion when a Federation starship, the USS Kelvin, is attacked by a vicious Romulan (Eric Bana) desperately seeking one of the film’s heroes. From there, the film then brings Kirk and Spock center stage and tracks the origins of their friendship and how they became officers aboard the Enterprise. In fact, the movie shows how the whole original series crew came together: McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoë Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). The adventure stretches from Earth to Vulcan, and yes, it does find a way to have Nimoy appearing in scenes with at least one of the actors on our cover — and maybe both. The storytelling is newbie-friendly, but it slyly assimilates a wide range of Trek arcana, from doomed Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to Sulu’s swordsmanship to classic lines like, ”I have been, and always shall be, your friend.” More ambitiously, the movie subversively plays with Trek lore — and those who know it. The opening sequence, for example, is an emotionally wrenching passage that culminates with a mythic climax sure to leave zealots howling ”Heresy!” But revisionism anxiety is the point. ”The movie,” Lindelof says, ”is about the act of changing what you know.”

What do you think of the plot?

HOME / FORUM.

James Cameron on The Hour talks about Avatar, Terminator and other things

Always good to hear some more stuff about the Avatar movie. Still very intrigued about the whole thing.

The film is set in the future, when Jake, a paraplegic war veteran is brought to another planet called Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.

The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, and Stephen Lang.

HOME / FORUM.