Cameron's "Avatar"

[Galactus]

Source: The Independent, CHUD December 22, 2006


Titanic director James Cameron talked to The Independent about his new feature, Avatar, which he says will now hit theaters the summer of 2009 (it was previously scheduled for summer 2008). Here are several clips from the interview:

"Avatar is a very ambitious sci-fi movie." The director's enthusiasm is evident in his voice. "It's a futuristic tale set on a planet 200 years hence. It's an old-fashioned jungle adventure with an environmental conscience. It aspires to a mythic level of storytelling."

"The film requires me to create an entirely new alien culture and language, and for that I want 'photo-real' CGI characters. Sophisticated enough 'performance-capture' animation technology is only coming on stream now. I've spent the last 14 months doing performance-capture work - the actor performs the character and then we animate it.

"I always want to find something mentally engaging. I'll spend many months completing the special effects on Avatar, and it will not be released until the summer of 2009. It's quite a challenge - and for that reason, I embrace it."

In Avatar, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran is brought to another planet, 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.

I can't say I'm surprised...

 

[Catman]

Shocking...but James Cameron hasn't directed a film in 9 years!

 

[ShaneHelms]

Yeah, its sad.

 

[Electrix]

Shocking...but James Cameron hasn't directed a film in 9 years!

Thats probably why he wants to make it the best he can.

 

[Catman]

True!

 

[Visionary]

So, there are absolutely no human actors in this film, they're all CGI characters, is this correct?

 

[DorkyFresh]

Shocking...but James Cameron hasn't directed a film in 9 years!

with good reason...

...he's been developing 3d technology so we don't have to wear those funky red and blue 3d glasses when we goto watch movies in 3d. his next movie will be ridiculously amazing. i'm kind of bummed we have to wait yet ANOTHER year for Cameron to make another masterpiece, but i'm all for taking more time to dish out a quality movie rather than rush to meet the deadline with a half finished movie...

So, there are absolutely no human actors in this film, they're all CGI characters, is this correct?

unless he's changed tactics within the last few months then it should be combination CG and live action. the last thing i heard about Avatar was that they were doing casting calls for the main characters.

 

[xwolverine2]

you see what i mean........ 20 years to make one ****ing movie.

ugh......

 

[Hoedowned]

Shocking...but James Cameron hasn't directed a film in 9 years!

And it's going to be 12 when this film is released. It better be THE movie.

 

[Cinemaman]

2009?

Mr. Cameron should really think about how far 2009 is

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

This sucks, but I can wait as long as it's worth it and by worth it I mean as fantastic as T2...okay almost as fantastic.

 

[Hunter Rider]

It sounds epic and as long as it's a mix of CGI characters and human ones i have no problem,delaying the release date to make it better is fine with me

 

[bluejake01]

So, there are absolutely no human actors in this film, they're all CGI characters, is this correct?

The film will be about 80% CGI. We were on-set a few months ago, and it was basically just James Cameron directing a bunch of people playing with toys. It was some sort of giant flying creature and a futuristic helicopter thingie in a chase. I am guessing it was all just reference footage.

 

[bluejake01]

I suspect that the technology is holding them back as well. We are developing hardware and software as fast as possible right now, and trying to incorporate the features and tools they specifically need for this and the project to follow (Battle Angel Alita). Avatar will be a huge leap in HD 3-D technology.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The film will be about 80% CGI. We were on-set a few months ago, and it was basically just James Cameron directing a bunch of people playing with toys. It was some sort of giant flying creature and a futuristic helicopter thingie in a chase. I am guessing it was all just reference footage.

damn

 

[livrule]

Well when you make the biggest movie of all time I suppose you deserve a rest ....

Love it or hate it Titanic was a money making work of art ... the ultimate in cinema entertainment.

 

[Visionary]

unless he's changed tactics within the last few months then it should be combination CG and live action. the last thing i heard about Avatar was that they were doing casting calls for the main characters.

The film will be about 80% CGI. We were on-set a few months ago, and it was basically just James Cameron directing a bunch of people playing with toys. It was some sort of giant flying creature and a futuristic helicopter thingie in a chase. I am guessing it was all just reference footage.

Thanks for the info, I've been looking forward to this film for years, and couldn't quite figure it (CGI vs. ACTORS) out since I read the script. It should be great regardless, you're talking James Cameron, Sci-Fi and his own material, this combination seems to never fail.

 

[Galactus]

2009?

Mr. Cameron should really think about how far 2009 is

Summer 2009 is only two and a half years away. It really isn't that long.

 

[xwolverine2]

Summer 2009 is only two and a half years away. It really isn't that long.

thats not long.......... when your making two pirates movies back to back.

but not one ****ing movie

 

[The Shape]

This is why I'm not excited for this movie. It feels like it will never come.

 

[Calvin]

This sucks, but I can wait as long as it's worth it and by worth it I mean as fantastic as T2...okay almost as fantastic.

Except that T1 was better.

 

[swifty]

I have a bad feeling he might pull a Lucas on us. I hope not but then again who knows.

 

[Galactus]

This is why I'm not excited for this movie. It feels like it will never come.

And yet it will probably be released before the new Indiana Jones at least...

 

[darwinwins]

you guys could complain about everything. so he's taking his time. he doesn't serve anybody. it's his thing. there's others who fill the same niche he fills. directors are a dime a dozen. sure there's good ones and bad ones, but he's not the only one making films. the point is that he doesn't have to go at anyone's pace but his own. there's no point in being upset he's choosing to take time creating art. i can spend 90 hours on a drawing and no one asks why i take so long just as long as they can see the end result.

 

[HUMAN]

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker James Cameron begins principal photography on Avatar - his first feature directorial effort since Titanic - in April 2007 for a summer 2009 release, it was announced today by Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman.

Utilizing a blend of live-action photography and new virtual photorealistic production techniques invented by Cameron's team, Avatar will offer audiences a unique cinematic experience. Avatar will be filmed in 3D for release in the new digital 3D format. With the continued roll-out of digital projection systems, the studio and filmmakers anticipate that digital 3D theaters will be widespread by the film's summer 2009 release.

For Avatar, Cameron will use revolutionary image-based performance capture techniques, and a real-time virtual camera system, to create new CG worlds and blend them with dramatic performances and live action in ways never before possible.

Avatar is written by Cameron from an idea he nurtured for over a decade, while working on the technology necessary to realize its wholly imagined world. A return to the action adventure sci-fi genre that made him famous, Avatar is also an emotional journey of redemption and revolution. It is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival. It thus again combines the elements of massive spectacle and intimate character that made Titanic the highest grossing film of all time; a title it still holds by over three quarters of a billion dollars.

Just as he did with the then little known Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron wanted a new face to portray the lead, Jake Sully. Having searched around the world and screen tested a number of emerging young actors, Cameron has chosen the young Australian Sam Worthington, a rising star who has been recognized by The Australian Film Institute and The Film Critics Circle of Australia, in his homeland from such work as Somersault and Dirty Deeds. Zoe Saldana (The Terminal, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl) will portray the local woman Jake first betrays, then loves. Both actors have signed on for possible future installments as well, as Avatar is conceived as a potential franchise. Other casting will be announced shortly.

Said Cameron, "For me, as a lifelong fan of science fiction and action, 'Avatar' is a dream project. We're creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language. The story is both epic and emotional. The two things that make this film even possible are pioneering advances in CG effects and performance capture, as well as my 22 year relationship with Fox, since only with great trust can you operate so close to the cutting edge. I plan to honor that relationship by bringing them a winner. And I have the team to do it, the best team of artists and technicians I've ever been privileged to work with. This one's going to be a grand adventure."

"Every year, our business makes hundreds of films, most of which come and go. But a Jim Cameron film is different," said Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos. "Jim's movies raise the bar, both in storytelling and use of technology. 'Avatar' will do so again. The world he has created is breathtaking and the action breathless. It will take two more years, but in the summer of 2009, 'Avatar' will be a seismic change in the movie going experience."

The film's new image-based process of facial performance capture will get all the subtle nuances of the actors' performances. The virtual camera system will allow Cameron to work intimately with the cast while seeing in real-time, as each scene evolves, the computer generated worlds and characters. This revolutionary approach allows Cameron to direct scenes with CG characters and environments exactly as he would on a live action set.

The edited performances and scenes, incorporating Cameron's hands-on camera moves, will be turned over to Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning visual effects house Weta Digital ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy). Weta's artists 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.

Avatar is produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment. Principal photography will take place in and around Los Angeles, and in New Zealand. Live action will be shot using the proprietary FUSION digital 3D camera system developed by Cameron and Vince Pace.

Avatar is the latest creative partnership between Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox, one of the most successful filmmaker-studio alliances in motion picture history. Cameron and Fox first joined forces in 1985 for Aliens, which became a sci fi classic. Next came The Abyss, which revolutionized visual effects technology; and True Lies, a blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996, Fox greenlighted Cameron's Titanic, which became the most successful film in history, and won a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.