Cameron's "Avatar"

[turtlefocker]

Cameron is still the man... we hope

 

[Electrix]

Well, we have mountains, trees and plants here.

The mountains on Pandora are in the sky. WETA are creating a whole planet with the technology they have. New designs for plants and trees and wildlife etc.

 

[matrix_ghost]

Biggest budget of all time?

Nope just 195 million.
http://www.cinematical.com/

James Cameron's 'Avatar' Initially Budgeted at $195 Million


Posted Apr 24th 2007 10:31AM by Jette Kernion
Filed under: Action & Adventure, Box Office, 20th Century Fox

Last week, Cinematical reported that two 3-D movies both intend to open on Memorial Day weekend, 2009: the James Cameron film Avatar and the Dreamworks movie Monsters vs. Aliens. I was reading a Chicago Tribune article about the dueling blockbusters when a sentence caught my eye: "With an initial budget of $195 million, Avatar ..." Whoa, back up there! An initial budget of $195 million? My initial reaction was, "How many films could John Sayles make for that kind of money?" (Probably all his films so far.) I realize that Cameron's last feature film, Titanic, was a huge moneymaker -- but that was 10 years ago, and he's made no blockbusters since then. Avatar is about an alien-human conflict on an alien planet, so you can imagine where the big budget will go: making that alien planet look realistic. The studio behind Avatar is Twentieth-Century Fox, which as an Austinite I remember as the studio that fought with Mike Judge on Idiocracy, but somehow I suspect they'll be a little more forthcoming if Cameron asks for more money to finish his special effects.

On her Thompson on Hollywood blog, Anne Thompson of Variety recently noted that Spider-Man 3 may have set new records for budget: possibly as much as $350 million, although Sony execs are denying those numbers. She points out that it's difficult if not impossible to gauge exactly how much money a "tentpole" film costs, and that we should be skeptical of the numbers being thrown around. However, she also observed, "The whole idea of a tentpole is to pay your other bills with its profits -- not to barely break even." Bear in mind that even if Avatar never exceeds its production budget of $195 million, Fox will still have to pay distribution and marketing costs, and it's expensive to release a movie both in 2-D and 3-D formats. Does Fox truly believe that Avatar will do so well worldwide that it will bring in lavish profits over and above its costs? No pressure there, Mr. Cameron ...

But that's the majority of that budget ( as much as 150-170 million ) is going into the VFX. To my knowledge i''ve never seen that much money go into VFX. Even Spider-man 3 or Pirates 3 didn't have that much money pumped into VFX

 

[xwolverine2]

Nope just 195 million.
http://www.cinematical.com/



But that's the majority of that budget ( as much as 150-170 million ) is going into the VFX. To my knowledge i''ve never seen that much money go into VFX. Even Spider-man 3 or Pirates 3 didn't have that much money pumped into VFX

then again WHO KNOWS where the money went for sm3...

pirates i see the money on screen... its ILM at their best.. and it was epic.

spidey

 

[matrix_ghost]

then again WHO KNOWS where the money went for sm3...

pirates i see the money on screen... its ILM at their best.. and it was epic.

spidey

I dunno what people complain about with Spider-man 3 but i can definately see where that money has gone too.
Compared with Spider-man 2 which cost 200 million and featured two battles with extensive use of CG doubles as well as full digital cities , SM3 featured more of that.

The opening fight with Peter and Harry which was PEter without his mask as well as Harry in some shots.
When Spidey goes to save Gwen. The Sandman birth sequence , the bank robbery as well as the final battle with Venom , Sandman , Pete and harry.
I can definately see that where all that money went in Spider-man 3.

Superman Returns on the other hand

 

[Hoedowned]

I dunno what people complain about with Spider-man 3 but i can definately see where that money has gone too.
Compared with Spider-man 2 which cost 200 million and featured two battles with extensive use of CG doubles as well as full digital cities , SM3 featured more of that.

The opening fight with Peter and Harry which was PEter without his mask as well as Harry in some shots.
When Spidey goes to save Gwen. The Sandman birth sequence , the bank robbery as well as the final battle with Venom , Sandman , Pete and harry.
I can definately see that where all that money went in Spider-man 3.

Superman Returns on the other hand

As far as I know the visual effects (i'm not sure if this includes practical stuff like the tentacle puppets or real explosions, but it does covers miniatures and R&D) in Spider-man 2 costed about 50-60 million. So they've must have spended about 70-80 in Spider-man 3 (but I'm guessing here)

So assuming they're spending about 150+ in Avatar, we'll be seeing some serious s**t in 2009.

 

[matrix_ghost]

As far as I know the visual effects (i'm not sure if this includes practical stuff like the tentacle puppets or real explosions, but it does covers miniatures and R&D) in Spider-man 2 costed about 50-60 million. So they've must have spended about 70-80 in Spider-man 3 (but I'm guessing here)

So assuming they're spending about 150+ in Avatar, we'll be seeing some serious s**t in 2009.

According to imdb , the amount of cash spend fot thr vfx in sm2 was 54 million.

Obviously it will be even more for this movie.My guess would be 100 million.
But anyway , yeah considering that majority of avatar's budget goes ito the vfx we'll be seeing some massive stuff.
The closest you can come with similar movies are the SW prequels.The last 2 movies were shot for 90 % aganist a blue screen . Personal opinion aside , you can see just how grand the scope of those vfx were.

 

[Space Moose]

Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst alone cost $30 million to cast. That is the main reason Cameron is using unknowns, similliar to Michael Bay and Transformers.

 

[turtlefocker]

Transformers cast wasnt really unknowns...

 

[dark_b]

Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst alone cost $30 million to cast. That is the main reason Cameron is using unknowns, similliar to Michael Bay and Transformers.

200 milions is only for the movie.
tobeys paycheck is not from 200 milions.

and yes i agree the main actors are unknowns
Actors
Shia LaBeouf Sam Witwicky
Josh Duhamel Sergeant Lennox
Anthony Anderson Glen Whitmann
Megan Fox Mikaela Banes
Tyrese Gibson USAF Tech Sergeant Epps
Rachael Taylor Maggie Madsen
Jon Voight Defense Secretary John Keller
Kevin Dunn Ron Witwicky
Michael O'Neill Tom Banachek
Julie White Judy Witwicky
Ronnie Sperling Lead Scientist
Amaury Nolasco ACWO Jorge "Fig" Figueroa
Charlie Bodin USAF Staff Sergent
John Robinson Mlles
Travis Van Winkle Trent
Chris Ellis Admiral Brigham
Jerald Garner Major Slesinger
Ashkan Kashanchi Mafous
Rizwan Manji Akram
Carlos Moreno Jr Manny
Glenn Morshower Colonel
Zack Ward Donnelly
Peter Cullen Voice of Optimus Prime
Hugo Weaving Voice of Megatron
Mark Ryan Voice of Bumblebee
Jess Harnell Voice of Ironhide/Barricade
Robert Foxworth Voice of Ratchet
Jimmie Wood Voice of Bonecrusher
Darius McCrary Voice of Autobot Jazz
Charlie Adler Voice of Starscream
Reno Wilson Voice of Decepticon Frenzy

my friend are you from the moon

 

[Space Moose]

Transformers cast wasnt really unknowns...

But they were cheap.

 

[turtlefocker]

Josh Duhamel should have asked for more money.

 

[Space Moose]

Josh Duhamel should have asked for more money.

He was awesome!

 

[terry78]

If you can cast a summer blockbuster with B-listers, you are pretty much good to go as far as profit. They ain't gonna get anymore than about 1 mil tops for their salary.

 

[Space Moose]

If you can cast a summer blockbuster with B-listers, you are pretty much good to go as far as profit. They ain't gonna get anymore than about 1 mil tops for their salary.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Electrix]

Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst alone cost $30 million to cast. That is the main reason Cameron is using unknowns, similliar to Michael Bay and Transformers.

This is a section from a recent article:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]The macho Worthington — who's not even famous among the cognoscenti — is a 30-year-old Australian journeyman actor who won the jackpot recently when he landed the lead in "Avatar," "Titanic" director James Cameron's much heralded return to moviemaking, which is due out in 2009.

Director Cameron considered almost every actor in his 20s to play "Avatar's" lead, a silent, stoic former Marine suffering from a spinal injury. He quickly grew frustrated with the stars who were available. "I didn't think they were tough enough for what I wanted them to do. [I kept thinking] 'Where are the men? Show me the men.' "

After screen-testing a few, he ultimately opted for the unknown Worthington, who "literally had me at the first word out of his mouth. His line was, 'Yeah.' "

"Avatar" star Worthington has knocked about Aussie TV and film for the last six years. His only other claim to fame is as the man who was almost James Bond — ultimately losing the part in "Casino Royale" to Daniel Craig.

Even for a superstar director like Cameron, 20th Century Fox was nervous about letting him hire Worthington to headline "Avatar," whose official budget is starting at $200 million. "It's a scary thing for [the studio executives] to do," says the director.

"Their instinct is a cover-your-butt, knee-jerk response. Even I started to feel it. Maybe we better give ourselves an insurance policy by casting someone with name value internationally." Cameron ultimately rejected the famous faces who were available. "They're overpaid, and they're not that great. "[/FONT]

Thats why he is casting relatively unknowns. He also thinks famous actors take you out of the story and if they had Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger you would know its them and not focus on the story. Which in 'Avatar's case, is amazing.

 

[turtlefocker]

Is Michael Biehn officially going to be in this

 

[Space Moose]

Is Michael Biehn officially going to be in this

It hasen't been confirmed but there is a 90% chance he will be in it, with possibly a small role.

 

[xwolverine2]

Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst alone cost $30 million to cast.

i thought so.......

overpaid bad actors -_-

 

[Electrix]

DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens has been slated for its domestic release on May 15, 2009, one week earlier than its previously announced date, with both the official title and the 2009 release date now confirmed for the project.

Monsters vs. Aliens, which reinvents the classic '50s monster movie into an irreverent modern day action comedy, will be the first DreamWorks Animation film produced in stereoscopic 3D technology.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=22177

Monsters vs. Aliens was supposed to be released the same day as 'Avatar'. Seems they didnt want the competition. Its better they do it quietly now rather than in a year when the marketing and hype builds. It may make the film look weaker.

 

[Space Moose]

i thought so.......

overpaid bad actors -_-

They just took advantage over the fact that they need them to make the film.

 

[Electrix]

HOLLYWOOD — Forget about Indy whatever and Batman whatchamacallit, because everybody knows that the hardest-to-acquire movie news these days regards "Avatar," the top-secret sci-fi flick that is finally bringing James Cameron back to theaters after a 12-year "Titanic"-inspired hiatus.

Cameron recently allowed actor Laz Alonso to run loose for a few hours so he could attend the premiere of his film "Captivity" and, naturally, we threatened to strap him down to one of the torture chairs inside the event unless he talked to us about Cameron's flick.

"It's going great man, I mean the guy deserves every great thing that's been said about him as far as his creativity," the "Stomp the Yard" actor said of the shoot. "We work really hard, and he's really passionate, and we're really excited about what we're doing. May 2009 is a long time away, but we just feel the fever right now — it's alive."

Rumors say that the film is about a paraplegic war veteran traveling to another planet on a diplomatic mission. It involves the environment, technology, and aliens — but Alonso wasn't eager to contribute much beyond that, insisting that he's not even allowed to describe his character.

"I had to sign something that swore me to secrecy; to be honest with you, I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about or not — so just to be on the safe side, I ain't saying jack," he shrugged. "But, it's just a sci-fi movie that's going to blow your socks off."

This much we do know: From "The Abyss" to "Terminator 2", Cameron loves to unveil new technology with his films. The filmmaker has already confirmed that the flick is being shot in 3D, and will combine live-action and computer-generated characters and environments (see " 'Titanic' Mastermind James Cameron's King-Size Comeback: Two Sci-Fi Trilogies").

"The technology that he's using is something that hasn't been done before, the way that he's doing it," Alonso said before naming a few of the VIP guests that have swung by the set. "When you see guys like Marilyn Manson coming through, and Peter Jackson and Spielberg coming through to see what this new cutting-edge technology is, you know you really have something special going on."

"What we're seeing right now as far as technology is level one," he said of today's blockbusters. "What you'll be seeing when this movie comes out is roughly like a level 20."

Alonso revealed that he's been working opposite several veteran actors, and is about to start filming scenes Cameron's "Alien" leading lady. "I actually will be working with Sigourney Weaver next week — she's been in New York finishing up a project," he explained. "She's on board until the end of the picture, so we'll be working together for the next few months."

"Zoe Saldana plays my counterpart, Sam Worthington plays the lead," he said of the actors he's worked opposite. "CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Wes Studi ... it's a really dynamic cast, people from all different types of backgrounds. The majority of us though have done theater, so you can tell that Jim likes to work with a lot of theater actors."

Reflecting on the performance of "The Shield" star Pounder, Alonso said: "Oh man, when she comes on, and when you see her in the movie — you'll know it," he grinned. "[Her character] has this very regal presence about her. When she steps on set, you know she's arrived. [Pounder] fits very, very well with her character."

Finally, Alonso revealed that he has not been privy to Cameron's shoots in New Zealand or Hawaii, but has instead spent most of his time in front of a green screen in Playa Vista, California. "I'm primarily here in the States; we're doing it here in Los Angeles on a sound stage," the actor said. "For the purpose of this film, when you work in a digital environment, you can pretty much create whatever it is that you want. We do have that freedom to stay in one place for our section.

"The world is our oyster."

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1564909/20070717/story.jhtml

 

[Electrix]

The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency announced Horner's involvement in the picture several weeks ago, but deleted the information on their web site since no deal was in place yet. Last
week, however, 20th Century Fox confirmed to Film Music Weekly that Horner is indeed going to compose the music for the film, which means that the composer is now set to work with James Cameron for the third time. Their two previous projects were Aliens (1986), widely recognized as a film music classic in the science fiction genre, and Titanic (1997), which resulted in the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

Avatar, which is scheduled to premiere on May 22, 2009, is a sci-fi story about a war veteran who is brought to the planet Pandora, where humans find themselves at odds with each other and the local Na'vis, the humanoid race that inhabits Pandora. The cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Laz Alonso. James Horner is also scoring another epic adventure, The Spiderwick Chronicles, directed by Mark Waters, for release on ebruary 15,
2008.

http://www.filmmusicweekly.com/issues/FM_Weekly_061907.pdf

 

[dark_b]

i think htey are hyping the CGI to much.
he said that we see now level 1 and in 2009 we will get level 20.

 

[turtlefocker]

i think htey are hyping the CGI to much.
he said that we see now level 1 and in 2009 we will get level 20.

If anyone can do it, its Cameron