James Cameron

What kind of a world do we live in where a worldwide box office take of $2.6 billion isn't a satisfying haul for a film? James Cameron and the folks at Fox feel that there's more box office life in Avatar yet, even after its April DVD release. They're talking about re-releasing Avatar in 3-D this Summer with an additional ten to twelve minutes of additional footage added in. Cameron confirms a scene where Jake Sully proves himself to the Na'vi (isn't that already in the movie?) and one where Tsu'tey gets drunk (is that worth a re-release?).

It seems like a very odd move to me, although I understand the business end of it. Avatar got booted from 3-D screens (including all IMAX theatres) to make room for Alice in Wonderland, while Avatar was still making money. I'm sure Cameron and company feel like they're just supplying for the demand, but what do you think the demand will be like for 3-D Avatar in the middle of the big Summer movie season, especially when you can already get it on DVD?

Are the ten minutes enough to spike an Avatar box office resurgence? Has Avatar become a poor-sport football team, just running up the score at this point to show that they can?

(via Hollywood Reporter)

Thursday, March 4 is a major day for Avatar fans (we need a cool nickname for them -- Fandorans? Fanvatars?). It's the last day that the film will be widely played theatrically in 3-D. By Friday, March 5, Disney's Alice In Wonderland will own most of the nation's 3-D screens, including those at IMAX locations. If you want to see Pandora in three-dimensions one more time, you've got about a week to do so.

No one predicted that the Academy Award-nominated film would do as well as it did, smashing box office records with a worldwide take of over $2 billion. It could probably coast along with another month's worth of wide-play in theatres and continue to do very well, but even Cameron knows that once Alice is released, Avatar's long ride is pretty much over. Last week, he announced the film would be hitting DVD and Blu-ray on Earth Day, April 22.

I've seen it one and a half times, and I'd like to catch it again this week in 3-D before it's gone. How many times did you see Avatar? Was once enough, or did you go back for more?

I remember when Avatar was first gearing up for production and the Internet was humming with casting rumors swirling James Cameron's fabled film. Most of that buzz concerned all the supporting roles, though, as Cameron was quite vocal about going after an unknown actor for the lead of Jake Sully. As we all know, that actor ended up being Australian soap-star Sam Worthington, but the LA Times is now shedding some light on the Jake Sullys that could have been: Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Cameron tells the LA Times that he doesn't think the two actors turning down the role had anything to do with the atypical working conditions, rather that he wasn't too enthusiastic about recruiting them for a trip to Pandora. "Honestly, did I go out and try to woo them? No. I had my heart set on Sam. Maybe they sensed my lack of 100% commitment from me. Maybe it was the subject matter. This was a big 'Star Wars'-type movie. They're both serious actors."

Now if that reads as though some of the higher ups at Twentieth Century Fox asked Cameron to at least go out and talk to some bigger, A-list actors to spearhead their considerable investment, that's because it's exactly what it was talk is precisely all Cameron did. Personally I can't imagine either Damon or Gyllenhaal wearing the digital loincloth of the Na'vi, which I suppose is a testament to how much Worthington made the role his (or the fact that I saw Avatar three-too-many times in theaters).

What say you? Would you have liked Jason Bourne or Donnie Darko to tame Toruk Makto? Or a third party, for that matter?

It's been known that Avatar would be hitting home theaters on both DVD and Blu-ray at some point in time before June (the fiscal year for Fox parent company News Corp.), but the date was up in the air. Well now James Cameron has revealed to the world said date and, in retrospect, we all should have seen it coming. But before outing the date, let's think about it for a second.

One of the more talked about points about Avatar is how the harmonious relationship between the Na'vi and every aspect of their home world has reminded people on Earth that they have a planet worth protecting as well. To many, Pandora's biggest accomplishment was holding up a mirror to the day to day lives of people on Earth, reflecting back at them all the wrong that goes on around them. If only we had a day here on Earth intended for such reflection...

Yes, yes, Avatar will be coming out on DVD and Blu-ray on Earth Day (that would be April 22nd for those of us who don't have the date memorized). So the good news is that's a lot closer than June. The bad news? It looks like it'll be a rather bare bones release on both the standard and high definition fronts. The even badder news? Don't expect that 3D Blu-ray this November, presumably with more special features than you can shake a Na'vi home tree at, as previously rumored. The tech behind that is still too "conceptual" at this stage.

Avatar fans will get a return trip to Pandora after all, just not in the way they may have expected. Avatar producer Jon Landau tipped MTV News off to James Cameron's latest Avatar project - a prequel novel that leads up to the events in the film. Fans can expect to learn more about Jake's relationship with his twin brother Tommy, Tommy's involvement with the Avatar program, and Grace's school for the Avatars and Na'vi.

While Cameron has never written a novel before, I think it's a good format for him. For one thing, he'll be unfettered by budgetary restraints, and when it comes to film, the guy likes to spend money. In a novel, he can dream big, and not have to worry about who's going to foot the bill. Secondly, if you've ever read any interviews with Cameron, the man is a huge science and technology geek. A novel will give him the chance to discuss science and tech in a way that just can't be explored in a film, without the risk of it coming across as boring or seeming like obvious exposition.

Landau thinks Cameron could have the novel ready by the end of 2010.

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It's always fun to peek back into the developmental stages of a filmmakers career to see how they got their start. Take James Cameron, for example, and his first short film, Xenogenesis. Today he's known for large scale, sci-fi heavy action films involving robots and aliens and more special effects than you can shake a harddrive at. But what kind of films did he want to make when he barely knew how to turn a camera on?

Well, turns out he was still into sci-fi and robots and special effects and people controlling robots to fight. I guess some things never do change.

According to Variety, Sony is looking to outbid Lionsgate on the rights to the Terminator franchise later today. The rights are a steal at their current starting price of $15 million dollars, and there's a big part of me that wishes James Cameron would just come out of left field with a bag full of Avatar coin and buy back the series that he created. I don't think that's going to happen, but there are certainly worse ways the man could spend $15 mill.

Personally, I'd rather see Terminator at Sony than Lionsgate, strictly because Sony has better experience in franchise-handling. Compare James Bond and Spider-Man to Transporter and The Punisher. No contest, really. If either company get their hands on the rights, you can expect another Terminator movie soon, but where could the series possibly go after Terminator Salvation? They seem to have painted themselves into a creative corner. Are there more Terminator stories left to tell?

What would you do with the series if you won the rights to the Terminator? Check out our poll below ...

Avatar has officially overtaken Titanic to be the highest grossing movie of all time.

Surprise! Not.

Titanic held the record with $600.8 million, but Avatar is already past $601 million with no signs of stopping. Now, keep in mind these are dollar figures and not attendance. With 3D and IMAX, the numbers are bloated as the price tags are higher. Still, that's impressive, as it means despite the higher ticket price, people are still seeking out the sci-fi blockbuster 7 weeks after it's domestic release.

And those numbers are not global ones, only domestic. Avatar has pulled in over $2 billion worldwide (that's including domestic box office). It's currently showing on nearly 3500 screens, which only supports speculations that Avatar is going to put a very large margin between itself and Titanic. Regardless of your opinion of the quality of the film, you have to respect the numbers.

James Cameron must be feeling like he's the king of the world right about now.

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Avatar certainly has its share of detractors (they may even be considered a legion after the sci-fi record breaker won last night's Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Film), but no one can make fun of James Cameron's latest quite like James Cameron. With the help of Saturday Night Live and some Laser Cats, of course.

Sigourney Weaver hosted this past Saturday's episode and the best part of it was, of course, the SNL Digital Short. Then again, how do you get better than Cameron pitching a new movie to Lorne Michaels that features time-traveling soldiers who team up with Ellen Ripley to destroy the insidious Laser Cats by hurling Cameron cliches at them?

Brilliant.

Has your life been a hollow, meaningless shell ever since you stepped out of your first screening of Avatar and back into our non-Real-D, Neytiri-free world? The folks at Avatar-Forums understand your pain, and they've started a thread to share their immeasurable sense of loss and to "cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible."

From forum user "Eleguin":

I think watching it takes away that depression, because when I am watching it, i dont know how to describe how I feel, but it feels good. I want to just forget about it all sometimes, take down my avatar wallpaper, stop reading about it and what not, but I just cant. I have to use a quote from the movie sometimes I guess "Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up." I heard writing a sequel helps, but I just cant compete with what has been laid out.

Its so hard I cant force myself to think that its just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen.

According to the forum, there are many people just like "Eleguin", searching for meaning in a world less real than the one James Cameron created with computers and wheelbarrows full of cash. Most recommend seeing the film as many times as possible to fill the cavernous void, but others offer advice outside of endless screenings. One user (named "Neytiri") suggests, "Start living like Neytiri: in touch with nature, the environment, and not being greedy and wasteful. Pass on the burger, for something more healthy for you and less cruel to animals...The only way you can fill the emptiness you feel after this movie, is to jump on the leonopteryx." Of course. That's all anyone can do.