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.

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Paul - Photos from Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's alien film

Peggster.net have lots and lots of photos from behind the scenes of the Greg Mottola directed film, Paul.
Paul is the story of two British slackers (Pegg and Frost) who after visiting Comic-Con go on a road trip to Area 51 where they encounter a small alien named Paul (Seth Rogen), who enlists them to help him find his way home. Jason Batemen and Bill Hader play Government agents who are chasing Paul. Sigourney Weaver is also starring in it.
A recent look at the script suggest it is going to be very funny with lots of cool pop culture references. However, Pegg and Frost do look a little different from the character descriptions in the script (although they may not have been in costume for the photos).
I really like these photos. They give a good feel for the shoot and always good to see the cast and crew behind the camera. The photo at the bottom shows Rogen doing an Andy Serkis with the motion capture suit.


Check out the rest of the photos over at Peggster.net. How do you feel about the film after looking at the photos?

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Paul - The script for Nick Frost and Simon Pegg's new film has been seen

Rich Johnston over at Bleeding Cool has seen the script for Paul. This is the film where Pegg and Frost play two blokers who visit a comic convention and end up meeting an alien called Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen). Then it turns into a bit of a road trip featuring Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman and Bill Hader amongst others. It is directed by Greg Mottola and is due to start filming soon. They will be doing some shooting at the San Diego Comic Con, so if you are going keep an eye out for them. Here's what Rich has to say about it.

This script is chock full of gags, bursting at the seams. Comedy of repetition, plenty of pull-back-and-reveals and overflowing pop cultural references including one Back To The Future gag that had me gasping for breath I laughed so hard. But these references aren’t surface, they are used to describe the relationships that the characters have with each other. Why use words to explain how you feel, when you can just find a common episode of Star Trek that does the job a lot more effectively. It’s honest, it’s true, yes it’s mocking but in a way that both validadates and celebrates both the actual reality and the often unrealised potential of the geek lifestyle. Damn it if the screenplay isn’t moving and poignant in places. But mostly it’s Simon Pegg and Nick Frost revisiting their past screen partnership performances, the friends who know each other so well, forgive the other’s eccentricities as their own are forgiven and would likely die for each other. As long as they were trying to Capture the Flag. No one does bromance like these boys. It’s not surprising that Paul is the character who seems, well, most normal most of the time.

Sounds like it could be another excellent comedy from the Pegg / Frost duo.

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Sigourney Weaver in You Again and Paul

In a story from Variety, Sigourney Weaver will be starring in Disney's You Again. In addition to this, the actress is currently circling Greg Mottola's comedy Paul for Universal and Working Title Pictures.

Paul stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two sci-fi fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they encounter an escaped alien near Area 51. As they try to reunite him with his mother ship, they find Paul has many more opinions than your typical ET.

Weaver plans to shoot her highly secretive role in this film first.

After this, she will join the shoot of You Again which stars Kristen Bell and is directed by Andy Fickman. Bell plays a girl who is horrified to find that her brother is marrying the very girl who made her life a living hell in high school. Weaver will be the bride's very wealthy aunt.

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UPDATED: Dan Aykroyd talks Ghostbusters 3

The Los Angeles Times recently caught up with Dan Aykroyd who confirmed that Ghostbusters 3 is in development at Columbia Pictures and may start filming in the winter:

Aykroyd said Sigourney Weaver is on board now, as are the original squad ofectoplasmic specialists -- Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. Murray's presence was the pivot point in making a third film happen.

"We could be in production by winter."

The script is by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the writing team behind the upcoming Jack Black/Michael Cera movie Year One (directed by Ramis), and Aykroyd is enthused about its premise of a new generation of Ghostbusters taking over the duties of the aging team.

Aykroyd said he wishes Ivan Reitman would return to direct the third film in the
series but that he's "too busy as a mega-producer" to take it on; his second
choice is Ramis, who, of course, co-wrote the first two Ghostbusters films with
Aykroyd and has numerous directing credits, most notably Groundhog Day and
Analyze This. "He has a lot of things going on, but it would be wonderful to see
him do it."

The details of story are still in play, but Aykroyd said he's hoping for a five-member "new generation" team with several female members. "I'd like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let's revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let's pass it on to a new generation."

He then mentions Alyssa Milano (who provided a voice for the upcoming video game) and Eliza Dushku as potential options. Nothing concrete about those two, but I could see Dusku as a Ghostbuster.

UPDATE: The two actresses Dan mentions quickly got onto this and had this mini-conversation on Twitter.

Alyssa Milano: Can't speak for @ElizaPatricia (Hi, pretty lady)but this is the first I'm hearing of Ghostbusters 3. Did the VO in the game tho.

Eliza Dushku: Ghost-rumor-buster in a big way @Alyssa_milano (hey girlene) it's nuthin' I know of.

How do you feel about the news? Who would you want to see as a female Ghostbuster?

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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

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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.”

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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.

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Avatar - 20% live action - 80 % CGI?

Variety have a piece on Avatar discussing the budget and CGI process. The interesting bit is the 20% live action shots on location with 80 % live action mixed with CG elements. I'm itching to see some footage of this film. I think James Cameron may just be onto a sci-fi Titanic (not in the bad hit by an ice-berg way of curse!). Here's what Variety have to say (the article also mentions Benjamin Button and Where the Wild Things Are).

The director, working with VFX whiz Rob Legato, showed the studio advance pre-viz footage demonstrating how high-def video cameras could track actors moving inside a virtual CG set. Initially budgeted at $200 million, the sci-fi epic was pushed back from May to December 2009 to give the director more time to combine in the computer all necessary elements: 3-D motion-capture data of the actors on bare sets, CG environments, and final animation of the human avatars (Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver) and alien characters (Teresa Saldana, CCH Pounder). The photo-real digital film is 20% live-action with humans shot on location and 80% live-action mixed with CG elements. "It's a CG film with live-action in it," Legato says.

Sources close to the studio admit there was a time when it was terrified that Cameron's process wouldn't work. Execs relaxed a tad when they got to see finished footage. Giving Cameron and Weta Digital in New Zealand (where substantial rebates make everything cheaper) extra post-production time made sense.
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Sigourney Weaver talks Avatar

During a telephone interview over in Germany, Sigourney Weaver got onto the subject that many sci-fi geeks, movie fans and Cameron disciples have been waiting patiently for. That's right, the mysterious movie that is Avatar. Weaver plays Dr. Grace Augustine. Follow the link to have a listen to the snippet in question - just scroll down on the page to find the audio.

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Baby Mama - Movie Review

Director: Michael McCullers
Starring: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepherd, Steve Martin
Running time: 99 minutes

Score: 6 / 10

This review from Babubhaut.

Say what you will about the marketing machine, but I truly think the people behind promoting Baby Mama did a bang up job…even if I believe they did so without trying. They make expectations so low in the trailer that you almost have to enjoy the film. Was it a great comedy? No. However, it was much better than I ever could have hoped as Michael McCullers takes us places you never would expect going in. I thought that it would be a water-downed, overlong SNL skit with one woman asking another to carry her baby, leading to a generic odd couple pairing with hijinks and gags piling on top of each other, collapsing under its own weight. Instead we are treated to a pretty sentimental and touching portrait of two women learning to grow and evolve with help from the other, a person, in both regards, that they never would have thought could teach them anything. Even the pregnancy aspect takes a ton of twists and turns never becoming the straight shot gimmick just bringing everyone together. The surrogate mother here must make some tough decisions as she continues along on her journey, lending a side to the tale that actually brings it to a level of intrigue that no Lorne Michaels film has done in recent memory.

I don't want to ruin the plot points of Angie Ostrowiski's pregnancy, but let's just say it isn't cut and dry. Her motives aren't genuine, something that is obvious from the start, just not quite in the way you anticipate. There are surprises for her and secrets hidden from the other characters as she wrestles within herself. A "white-trash" loser, attached to a man that believes waiting on the phone to be the 132.7 caller is a job, Angie learns a lot while with mom-to-be Kate Holbrook. Kate, being the professional VP of an organic food market, is a very detail orientated woman who is by the books and unafraid to tell others what they should do. It is an oil and water connection, but—like all good relationships of this kind—breeds some real funny and touching moments. Who thought watching Karaoke on the Playstation could be so much fun? Sure many instances feel like skits written separately and plugged in later, (the clubbing while pregnant, the press conference ambush, and the surrogate therapy session—probably the funniest scene without question), but they are surprisingly strung together to make a pretty coherent whole.

The other thing that the trailer hides is the inclusion of two great male roles. Did anyone know that Greg Kinnear and Steve Martin were in this thing? I for one was completely surprised by both, almost chuckling that they would have a small cameo until I realized that both were key roles to the whole. In the best turn of the film, Steve Martin is crazy, hippie genius. His earthy style of living, complete with long ponytail and soft speech, even when angered, is classic, as is everything uttered from his mouth. He is so good that I would be thrilled to have him offer me 5 uninterrupted minutes of staring into his eyes as a reward for a job well done. For Kinnear's part, he plays the usual love interest that is commonplace in films of this ilk. It's not flashy and it's not very original, but Greg is a stalwart and pulls off the good guy persona, even including a little bit of physical humor at the end.

Overall, though, this film is pretty standard fare. It goes into very broad comedy at times and very sappy/overly-sentimental drivel at others. There are some good jokes sprinkled throughout and for the most part keep it fun for the duration. Definitely feeling longer than it is, I never quite felt bored and I did begin to get invested in the story to see how it all would turn out. A lot of that can be credited to the chemistry between Tina Fey and Amy Pohler as Kate and Angie respectively. Both these women do a great job with their roles, fleshing out the psychotic relationship to perfection. One of the successful dynamics is how Fey becomes a mother figure to her surrogate. Even going so far as having temper tantrums and rubber-faced reactions, Pohler is a child.

It's also nice to see some fun moments from the supporting cast, but again nothing really sticks out to vault anything into must see territory. Sigourney Weaver is actually kinda scary in a very weird role; Romany Malco has plenty of great one-liners and facial expressions; and John Hodgeman is a bit odd in a small bit, with laughs coming more from the recognition of his Mac commercials than anything he does in the film. In the end, while nothing over-achieves, it all adds up to a pretty solid comedy worth a view. Is it necessary to see on the big screen? Probably not, but if you were worried that it might be a train-wreck, just know that it never takes any chances to risk derailing, and that's not a bad thing.
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