We’re going to have to do a semi-regular Avatar roundup from now until December 18, aren’t we? Small tidbits about the movie are hitting left and right, so here we go.

First, Sam Worthington says he is signed for three films. (Actually, he says ‘we’, but we don’t know who’s included in that.) Not much of a surprise there; standard practice with any big picture like this is to sign the talent to multiple films. Not that such a thing means more films will necessarily happen, nor does it mean that if sequels do happen the signed cast will necessarily return. Hollywood contracts are flexible like that. [Total Film, via MarketSaw]

After the break, details on an MTV webcast with the cast and crew, an interview with the film’s production designer and a sensationalistic early review.

On Dec 3 MTV will host a webcast with participation from James Cameron, producer Jon Landau and actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana. The half-hour roundtable will take questions from fans via MTV and Facebook, and will be followed on Dec 16 by a half-hour televised MTV special on the film. Expect new footage in both presentations.

The LA Times has a great interview with Avatar’s production designer Rick Carter. Peter already pointed to this in Page 2 this morning, but I want to make sure people see it. The quote I’ll pull here is one that should be of interest to people who’ve been down on the film as Dances With Wolves in Space, as Carter directly addresses the comparison between Avatar and Kevin Costner’s film.

[While Dances With Wolves] was a wonderful movie and did as well as any movie could hope to do, it still had to run in that middle ground between the truthful Indian existence, as perceived today, and what is acceptable to the Indian community and then still be a Hollywood-oriented star vehicle for Kevin Costner. There was a lot of lines to toe and issues of political correctness, almost, to tell that tale. Now if you go back and make a movie that tells the story and is free of that…

Note that this is Carter’s take, not necessarily Cameron’s. The idea that Wolves was too beholden to political correctness isn’t one I agree with, but that’s a movie I haven’t seen in at least a decade, so my memory of it could be faulty. That’s from the second part of the LAT interview; the first is here.

Finally, Gawker is running an excerpt from a ‘review’ of Avatar from someone who doesn’t seem to have been open-minded about the film in the first place. The review claims that the “3D focal points and perspective” have been miscalibrated, leaving the action sequences “literally vomit inducing.” Having seen the Avatar Day and Comic Con presentations, which had action and didn’t induce vomiting, I’d say don’t give this too much credit.