Cameron's "Avatar"

[GL1]

It will be released December 18, 2009... I don't anticipate any more new News this year. There might be something, but it won't be important, I don't think.

 

[dark_b]

this movie was pushed back to decemberr. so yeah. i dont expect something this year.
there is no point in doing a teaser in summer .

maybe we will get a promo pic with some finished effects.

 

[Rezzo]

James Cameron update on Avatar

Hey folks, Harry here... in the last 4 days I've been sent the art below from multiple sources claiming that it was promo art from Avatar. Well - I decided to run it by Jim to see what he said and to ask how things were coming along on Avatar. Here's the latest from the man himself...

Harry,

Good to hear from you.

This art is not from us. I don't know where it comes from. More overactive fan imaginations? It's not bad though.

Things are going well on Avatar, or at least as well as can be expected on such a ridiculously complex project. We've wrapped principal, and most of the live action portion of the movie is already cut. It's starting to look and sound like a movie. I'm ecstatic with the performances and the look. The cast chemistry worked out perfectly.

I'm in New Zealand right now, working on effects, while Steve Quale shoots some second unit. We've worked together a lot (he did the engine room scenes on "Titanic", plus co-directed "Aliens of the Deep" with me) and he's the only guy I trust to shoot stuff for me, especially in 3D. We still have a little performance capture work to do with Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in March, when we get her back from Star Trek (she's Uhura -- but of course you already knew that.) And we have a couple of days with Stephen Lang in April or May, to shoot his character's last scene, which is so technically difficult it will take us until then to figure out how to do it.

You can see how spread out the schedule is -- it's just the nature of this type of CG animation/live action hybrid. Most of my time now is spent editing, because on this type of film you edit every CG scene twice -- once to edit the raw performance capture, before it goes to virtual camera, and then again when you have the virtual camera shots, you do the final edit of the scene. It's very complex and taxing, but the result is amazing. The Weta animators are ON FIRE, and seeing the world and the creatures come to life is what keeps us going. There's a spirit on this film, an esprit de corps amongst the virtual team, that comes from knowing we're doing something absolutely groundbreaking. It's why people still have good morale after working on this thing for two years or more. And we still have more than a year and a half to go. I don't know if this will be a good film, great film, awful film, but I can say with absolute certainty that you will see stuff you've never imagined, and that the process of making this film will generate a lot of interest within the technical side of the biz. When I edit with some of our early stuff, "shot" using our virtual camera system over a year and half ago, it already looks laughably crude. Our process has evolved so much, just within the making of this one movie. Of course the final standard of photoreal animation will be consistent throughout the film, because it all gets rendered in a big frenzy next year.

It's all very exciting to be doing, and that (usually) compensates for the grind of the seven day weeks. Well, no rest for the weary. Gotta get to the cutting room. Back to Pandora.

Jim out

Can´t wait to start seeing some footage and such.

 

[Electrix]

Arrghh!

2009 hurry the hell up!

 

[Dark Donnie]

Arrghh!

2009 hurry the hell up!

Almost 2010

 

[Noir]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/02/20/james-cameron-gives-avatar-update-calls-film-groundbreaking/

Director James Cameron shot AICN an email today to dismiss recent promotional-like artwork as fake and gives a very upbeat update on all things Avatar, his hotly anticipated 3D space adventure due December of next year.

“We’ve wrapped principal, and most of the live action portion of the movie is already cut. It’s starting to look and sound like a movie. I’m ecstatic with the performances and the look. The cast chemistry worked out perfectly.”

He goes on to say that he’s currently camped in New Zealand working on special effects, which make up a significant portion of the flick’s $200 million budget, with feted special effects house Weta.

“The Weta animators are ON FIRE, and seeing the world and the creatures come to life is what keeps us going. There’s a spirit on this film, an esprit de corps amongst the virtual team, that comes from knowing we’re doing something absolutely groundbreaking. It’s why people still have good morale after working on this thing for two years or more. And we still have more than a year and a half to go. I don’t know if this will be a good film, great film, awful film, but I can say with absolute certainty that you will see stuff you’ve never imagined, and that the process of making this film will generate a lot of interest within the technical side of the biz.”

I trust Cameron’s words more than many a director and there are not many upcoming projects that can beat Avatar in my mind. In a way, I hope he gives audiences the soon-to-be-legendary sci-fi knockout that George Lucas played up with the prequels.

 

[terry78]

I trust Cameron. Though I have to wonder how these characters are honestly going to look. We've seen so much CG over the years, if he can honestly create a race of things that look so good we can't tell them from computer generated stuff, well....

 

[The Shape]

I'm sure this film will certainly be something else, but I wonder how much of a success it'll be.

 

[Noir]

Well.. it should be pretty well. its gonna have to pull in a crap load to remake its money.

 

[The Shape]

Well.. it should be pretty well. its gonna have to pull in a crap load to remake its money.

I know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...and we have a long time to wait.

 

[Bubonic]

Oh... My... God...

I'd never heard of this until now, and I wish I hadn't
Now I'll be cursed with raging anticipation!

I just read the first post, and the news clipping from this page... I'm so curious, and mystified by this... WTH

It seems crazily ambitious to think a film crew can create a convincing alien civilization, a distinct culture... In real life these things take centuries or more...
I expected them to be humanoid, since it is beyond our capacity to think of how else life could be, but even to come up with a whole ecosystem that won't just be ours with a different splash of colours...
I can see how this will either work, or will bomb.

 

[Rezzo]

Cameron And Weaver Talk Avatar
A little update on the sci-fi behemoth

There aren't really words to describe our level of excitement about James Cameron's Avatar, but the nearest we can get to it is 'Squeeee!' And that's not, strictly speaking, a word. But, suffice to say, we're really quite looking forward to it.

Both AICN and Premiere caught up with members of the Avatar team yesterday, the former talking to Cameron himself and the latter gabbing with Sigourney Weaver.

AICN's email from Cameron was mainly an update on the current status of production. Cameron told them:

"We've wrapped principal, and most of the live action portion of the movie is already cut. It's starting to look and sound like a movie. I'm ecstatic with the performances and the look...We still have a little performance capture work to do with Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in March, when we get her back from Star Trek...And we have a couple of days with Stephen Lang in April or May, to shoot his character's last scene, which is so technically difficult it will take us until then to figure out how to do it".

Lang plays a high-ranking member of the human military in the movie, which is, in basic terms, the story of a battle between humans and the native race of a planet that mankind wants to exploit for its own benefit. We won't tell you anything about the sequence Cameron is referring to, because it's a bit spoilerish, but if it delivers on what he's described to us, it should be AH-mazing.

Cameron also said that, based on what he's currently working on, "I don't know if this will be a good film, great film, awful film, but I can say with absolute certainty that you will see stuff you've never imagined, and that the process of making this film will generate a lot of interest within the technical side of the biz"

Talking to Premiere, Weaver described her character Grace as "beautiful, with bright red hair and big eyelashes. No make-up. She's a scientist, and she's an attractive woman who has given up a normal life to devote herself to this planet and fight this fight. She learns a lot over the course of the story."

She also spoke of the movie's themes, saying, "I can't think of anything, frankly [that compares to it]...It's gonna be an experience for people. I don't think they're going to want to come out of the theater. I think kids will want to stay in the theater with their sleeping bags so they don't have to go out into the real world. It's about something. It's about ecology in a lot of ways. About greed...About love. About becoming a man. You know, a lot of [Cameron's] favorite themes. It's a very dense piece of work. I've only seen the motion-capture 40 percent done, but it's pretty awesome. The live action I've seen almost all of, and it's a very affecting story. When you see scenes that are very affecting in 3D, you can't keep them out".

2009 seems so far away.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

damn thats far!!!

 

[Electrix]

(James Cameron) “I can’t think of a better movie for 3-D - action, creatures, big aerial battles and more. It’s going to rock the house. It’s another world - a world of great beauty and savagery, a mystical place where humans, with their greed and technology, confront a virgin world of great danger and wonder. When the humans try to take what’s not theirs, as they have done since the dawn of time whenever they inhabit a new land, the land fights back. And the fight is on; the scale is off the chain. And that’s all I am saying.”

http://filmonic.com/james-cameron-interview-with-hdvideopro-magazine

 

[terry78]

^So I guess we would call it Pocahontas in space.

 

[Galactus]

Exclusive: Michelle Rodriguez on Cameron's Avatar
Source: Heather Newgen March 10, 2008


At the Louis Carreon art exhibit on Friday night in Hollywood, Michelle
Rodriguez--a friend of the artist--stopped by to support his
latest collection, "New Filth." She was only there a short time, but was cool enough to answer a few questions about her upcoming films Avatar, from director James Cameron, and The Fast and the Furious 4.

ComingSoon.net: How is "Avatar" going?
Michelle Rodriguez: We finished shooting and now they're going to go into post for about a year.

CS: Have you seen any of the footage?
Rodriguez: It's spectacular.

CS: Our audience is really excited about it, so anything you can tell me would be great.
Rodriguez: I've seen raw stuff that hasn't even been touched up. It's not even in its second phase of all of the computer post-production that they've got to do, and it looks phenomenal.

CS: How in awe were you of James Cameron?
Rodriguez: Let's just put it this way, if my bills weren't so expensive on a monthly basis, I would beg him to become his assistant. I would literally beg him.

CS: How incredible was your experience on the film and with Cameron?
Rodriguez: I think he's an amazing guy. I look forward to watching and being a part of anything in his future.

CS: What was the process of shooting on the set like?
Rodriguez: Just being surrounded by geniuses. In between cuts we'd just be talking about science. He's an encyclopedia that guy and I love him for it. I just get fed information which is great.

CS: How do you think fans are going to react when they see "Avatar"?
Rodriguez: They're going to react the same way they did when people saw their first colored film. I'm so proud to be a part of it.

CS: When do you start shooting "The Fast and the Furious 4"?
Rodriguez: I don't know yet. Sometime near the end of the month we'll get on that.

CS: Where is the story going to pick up from?
Rodriguez: I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to talk about it so I'm just going to shut up about it.

CS: Do you still watch "Lost"?
Rodriguez: I loved being a part of that show. It was great. I've watched a couple of episodes afterwards. I've been pretty busy and I don't really have time to watch TV.

Avatar tells the story of an 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 is scheduled for a December 18, 2009 release.

 

[Nightmare]

I love michelle rodriguez. Just adds to the anticipation for this film.

 

[Frosty81]

I don't think Anchorage, AK will have a theater technically capable of handling this movie. I am honestly considering traveling to a major city in 2009 just to see the full 3D experience.

 

[Galactus]

A new interview with James Cameron:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983864.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1

 

[GL1]

I don't believe it... I'm sure the CGI will look photorealistic... that's not impossible when you come up with a new process and spend 5-10 years making it work. But that's not all that groundbreaking, it's just better, perhaps way better, but it's not "new." I'm sure the movie will be great, cuz Cameron knows what he's doing, but this groundbreaking hype is really throwing me off.

 

[dark_b]

abys was grounbreaking in the CGI deparment.
terminator 2 was VERY groudnbreaking. and this is what you will hear from the experts.

titanic used CGI humans on the ship in one scene .

people really need to realize that this movie will bring something new. and i really mean new.

 

[Cinemaman]

Cameron is always talking and talking promising to show something new and outstanding, while his projects change and get new release dates. I am losing my faith and passion

 

[DorkyFresh]

I am losing my faith and passion

it'll come back after you see the first trailer.

 

[dark_b]

Cameron is always talking and talking promising to show something new and outstanding, while his projects change and get new release dates. I am losing my faith and passion

abbys,terminator 2,titanic were all very grounbreaking in the vissual department.

 

[Cinemaman]

abbys,terminator 2,titanic were all very grounbreaking in the vissual department.

Can't disagree, but he hasn't made a real movie for more than 10 years, and that's damn long. Plus, he has been changing his plans for seven years and still doesn't know what he really wants to do. Yesterday it was Battle Angel, today it is Avatar and tomorrow it will be some another huge epic sci-fi action drama, which will never happen