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.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
It’s funny I just watched Terminator 2 last night. Watching that film makes you realize was a horrible and superficial film Terminator 3 was.
Cameron is one of the few people who puts a lot of details and “character development” in his sci-fi work. I’m glad he’s coming back to it. This industry is in serious need of some great sci-fi again.
Cameron and Weta together is a marriage made in heaven.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
The Avatar script was amazing. I have high hopes for this film.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Cameron is what Michael Bay dreams of being. Cameron’s screenplays are rich in character detail and he knows
how to make an action scene fit within the story.
I’m really excited for this. I have personally missed
seeing a Hollywood James Cameron film when I’ve
been to the cinemas the past 10 or so years. Movies
like Transformers, I would say, screw Bay what if James
Cameron did this? Transformers would actually rock?
February 20th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
fox asked me to remove the image. That image was from a fox list, and as you could see there were a synopsis too, so I really can’t imagine how Cameron can say it’s something from a fan, really I don’t understand. By the way, I really hope we’ll see something official soon!
February 20th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I cant wait. I’m going to fly to New Zealand and sneak in to the studio.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Another anti-Iraq War allegory. Groundbreaking, indeed.
Yawn.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
@ Ezra
Ahh, the Devil’s Advocate would simply say “but it’s an anti-Iraq War allegory…in 3D.”
February 21st, 2008 at 4:55 am
Thanks for the update! I for one am really looking forward to this film. Cameron is a director/writer who is always pushing himself (and others it seems) he is changing an industry which is pretty amazing in itself. Not to mention he comes from being a model builder!! (Geez!) I’m open to whatever he presents–he’s an amazing artist and I’m glad his work is in theaters. (Just a bit of a fan…can’t u tell;)