James Cameron's Avatar

[Darrol]

For some time now, many of the sites I visit on a regular basis have been going mad over seeing what this movie is going to look like. Cameron has put a boat load of money into making his new film with his last one being Titanic. All we have known is that it follows a marine that has been paralyzed and is pushed into an alien world as an avatar to the native humanoid life. Within the past two days, the teaser trailer was released and today was Avatar day in which IMAX theaters all over showed off 15 minutes of the film in 3D. Of course I was among those to go see it and one thing many are saying is just "wow." The 3D was probably the best I have ever seen and while the CGI was not what some expected considering this movie has been in development for 7 years, it still looked great. I have already been hearing about places being sold out of tickets for when the movie comes out on December 18th and if that week was not the last week of my fall semester at the school I am transferring to, I would be among them.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

"a boat load of money" haha I get it!

[Darrol]

Well they pretty much did. A new visual effect system was devised for the motion capture that let Cameron see how the characters reacted with the world as they were capturing the actor's movements.  They also are using a virtual camera system that simulate human sight which, in my opinion, it does very well. I noticed after a while it gave the feeling of actually being there and watching the action.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Looks great to me!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=avatar&search_type=&aq=f

Looking for the IMAX 3D 15 minute+ trailer now....
Thanks, Darrol!

[Barklessdog]

We are a fan of the cartoon on Nickelodeon. Cool the way way the US made a Anime that is as good as what Japan can do. The TV series is very good. I can't wait to see the movie - Yip Yip

[Darrol]

I feel that I should point out that Cameron's Avatar is far different from the cartoon. M. Night is making a movie based on the cartoon though to be released next year.

[Highlander]

Shyamalan is at risk of doing an Orson, making his best film at the beginning...

Been hearing a lot of good things about this movie... 

[Barklessdog]

What he heck two movies named Avatar?

I saw the preview for the blue alien one before Basterds. Basterds was a fun movie. A modern take on the dirty dozen.

[Darrol]

Well it is not really two movies named Avatar since the one based on the cartoon series is dropping the Avatar name to be called just The Last Airbender.

[Barklessdog]

Really, but the Cartoon on Nickelodean has been one on TV since 1995. You tell any kid the name Avatar and they think Airbender.

2005 Pulcinella Awards:[46]
Best Action/Adventure TV Series   Won
Best TV Series   Won
33rd Annie Awards:[47]
Best Animated Television Production   Nominated
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production (The Deserter)   Won
Writing for an Animated Television Production (The Fortuneteller)   Nominated
34th Annie Awards:[48]
Character Animation in a Television Production (The Blind Bandit)   Won
Directing in an Animated Television Production (The Drill)   Won
36th Annie Awards:[49]
Best Animated Television Production for Children   Won
Directing in an Animated Television Production (Joaquim Dos Santos for Into the Inferno)   Won
2007 Genesis Awards:
Outstanding Children's Programming (Appa's Lost Days)   Won
Primetime Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Animated Program (City of Walls and Secrets)   Nominated
Individual Achievement Award (Sang-Jin Kim for Lake Laogai)   Won
Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards 2008:
Favorite Cartoon[50]   Won
Annecy 2008:
TV series (Joaquim Dos Santos for The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse)[51]   Nominated
56th Golden Reel Awards:
Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation (Avatar Aang)[52]   Won
2008 Peabody Awards:
"Unusually complex characters and healthy respect for the consequences of warfare"[53]   Won
[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_The_Last_Airbender


This reminds me of when there were two GhostBusters, The Filmation's "real" ghostbusters and the one everyone knows- Bill Murry one
Both were released close to each other. Filmation wasa supposed to be the original one.



Wonder how Nick's Avatar lost the rights to its name for the movie?

[Barklessdog]

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20008251,00.html

So this is playing out like Ghostbusters. Cameron had the name & movie rights since 1996.
What took Cameron so long?
The director wrote an 80-page treatment for Avatar in 1996 — but the technology (or the lack of it) held him up. That avatar the hero occupies for much of the film? It's big and blue, and Cameron had to wait for the F/X world to develop the means to realize his vision. The tipping point: Gollum, King Kong, and sundry visual advances pioneered by director Peter Jackson. Morever, Cameron says he's been waiting for movie theaters to embrace 3-D digital exhibition; he projects that Avatar will be opening on up to 1,500 3-D screens in 2009. (It'll also be released in 2-D format.) Finally, there was another pet project competing for his attention: Battle Angel, an adaptation of a Japanese graphic novel. Script problems on Angel and inspiring Avatar test footage helped Cameron decide.

THE OTHER 'AVATAR'
M. Night Shyamalan and James Cameron start a title wave

Poor M. Night Shyamalan. On the same day Fox announced James Cameron's Avatar, news broke that Shyamalan's new project will be a live-action adaptation of a Nickelodeon cartoon called... Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Shyamalan is committed to making three Avatar films with Paramount's Nick Movies.) A Fox rep says they're keeping the title, while a Paramount rep had no update about their project's name. How about a coin toss?


So just as Filmation was the true Ghostbusters, Cameron's Avatar was first as well, but as with Filmations Ghostbusters, Everyone is going to think Cameron's is the rip off (at least kids).