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.