Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Comic Con Updates: Avatar, Mystery Team, Repo, Pandorum, Extract and 9
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
ComingSoon has posted a photo (right) of one of the banners on display outside the San Diego Convention Center, promoting James Cameron’s Avatar. The image shows a close-up of one of the ten foot blue tribal alien creatures called Na’vi. Warner Bros’ panel announcement included confirmation that Hall H will be set-up to screen 3D footage, which pretty much gaurentees that Fox will present footage from Avatar in 3D. I’m guessing that the same footage that premiered in Amsterdam at the cinema expo will be screened.
You’ve heard the buzz online, now see the movie! Derrick Comedy’s Mystery Team will be presenting a special sneak preview screening (yes, the whole movie) on Thursday, July 23rd at 8pm at the Horton Plaza theaters. How can you attend the screening? Passes will be available at the Mystery Team booth on the show floor on either Wednesday night (preview night) or Thursday.
Tickets are now on sale for the Saturday night midnight screening of Darren Lynn Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera. Head on over to Fandango to purchase tickets. I’ve heard Bousman will be in attendance, and possibly some other cast members.
MTV has learned that Overture Films will be premiering a few select scenes from the sci-fi horror thriller Pandorum on July 23. The panel will include stars Ben Foster, Cung Le and Antje Traue (Cam Gigandet and Dennis Quaid will not be in attendance but Quaid has recorded a special taped greeting.
Mike Judge will be presenting footage from his new film Extract on July 25. But those not attending Comic Con don’t need to worry, MTV.com will be premiering the footage online at the same time as the panel. No word on if any cast members will be in attendance at the panel. [MTV]
Update: Miramax has confirmed that Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, & Kristen Wiig will also be on the panel, which takes place at 1pm in Hall H.
FirstShowing is reporting that Shane Acker’s 9 will have a special sneak preview screening. Not sure when and where, but I’m sure tickets will be available somewhere on the show floor.
Early Buzz: 24 Minutes of James Cameron’s Avatar Screened
Posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
The first footage from James Cameron’s Avatar was screened to over 1,000 European Industry attendees at CinemaExpo International in Amsterdam, and some of the early buzz has begun to leak out. 24 minutes of footage was screened in all, most of which came from the first third of the film, but THR notes that “there were also glimpses from unfinished portions of later battle scenes.” What did everyone think of the first glimpse of the film that everyone is already touting as “revolutionary”? The reactions after the jump are, for the most part, spoiler free.
The details about James Cameron’s Avatar have been closely guarded, to say the least. When I sat down in UbiSoft’s tiny Avatar theater on the E3 show floor, I was treated to far more information about the movie than I expected to get. As Peter mentioned recently, producer Jon Landau was on hand to discuss how the film went from a story written fourteen years ago by Cameron to the cutting edge movie being edited now. But Landau actually explained (more or less) the whole movie to us. That was a surprise, especially since Cameron had just made two public appearances (at the UbiSoft press conference and at a screening of Aliens and The Abyss) and revealed no specifics about Avatar. Want to know more?
Read on after the jump, but beware: there are many potential spoilers within. Read More »
Last we heard, Kevin Eastman’s new big screen Heavy Metal movie had a list of impressive directors a mile long: Zack Snyder, David Fincher, Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda), and Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy). Eastman has said that three more directors would also direct segments on the animated anthology film. Since that time we’ve learned that Rob Zombie (Halloween) is in talks to join the mix.
But now our good friends at Film School Rejects have learned directly from Eastman that James Cameron has now come on board as Co-Executive producer, and will direct a segment. Cameron’s involvement is also notable because it pretty much guarantees that the film will be 3D. It was also revealed that Jack Black would be part of Kung Fu Panda helmer Mark Osborne’s comedy segment, although it was elaborated on if he would provide a voice, write, or even co-direct. Eastman says that the three other directors (one of which we assume is the previously mentioned Zombie), who have agreed but haven’t officially signed on, “are equally as jaw-dropping.” I do remember that Guillermo Del Toro’s name was initially on the list, but the filmmaker became too busy.
Discuss: Who else would you like to see involved in a new Heavy Metal movie?
Avatar Running Time is Over Two and a Half Hours
Posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Editor’s (Peter Sciretta) Note: Brendon filed this report yesterday, but I wasn’t initially willing to run it based on an unconfirmed source on a Twitter account. But since that time, /Film’s Russ Fischer was able to follow-up with Avatar producer John Landau, who made an appearance at the Ubisoft booth during the E3 video game convention. Fischer asked about Avatar’s running time, and Landau confirmed that it is “definitely over two and a half hours.”
The reason why I had my doubts is that the film is being released theatrically in 2D, Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, but the latter format does not allow for three-hour films. I contacted IMAX, and they confirmed that the longest a non-digital 3D presentation could run is 160 minutes, and that is with two separate film reels, one for each eye. I asked IMAX if they would be forced to cut down Avatar if the finished film ran 3 hours in length, and they said they’d get back to me — which of course, they never did. When IMAX first began screening theatrical upconversions, the maxium running time was shorter, and I do recall one of the Harry Potter films being shortened a few minutes of the IMAX presentation. So it is possible that the same thing might have to be done for Avatar.
You can read Brendon’s original report, which claims a finished running time of 189 minutes (or three hours and nind minutes) after the jump.
Last week an image leaked out of a 14-foot tall powersuit from James Cameron’s upcoming 3D sci-fi epic Avatar. At the time I wondered why 20th Century Fox didn’t send their legal team after all the sites that posted it. Heck, it seemed to be a confirmed set photo. Not the case at all. While the powersuit is a confirmed prop from the movie, the photo wasn’t taken on the set. So where was it taken? Probably on route to the E3 video game convention in Los Angeles.Our friends at Collider were able to snap a few photos of this monster mech suit on the show floor. I have included one after the jump.
James Cameron Talks Avatar at E3; Video Game Screenshots Revealed
Posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Update: We’ve added video of the presentation from G4tv after the jump.
James Cameron made an appearance at UBISOFT’s E3 press conference, talking about his upcoming film Avatar and the video game which has been developed alongside the movie. Not many hard facts were revealed, but here is a round up of what we learned:
- Ubisoft acquired a graphic design company named Hybride, which is creating over 100 of the CGI shots for the film.
- Cameron said that the film takes place in the 22nd century, on a large Earth-like moon called Pandora, with rain forests, 1000-foot tall trees, and many different types of critters. He described the Na’vi as 10 feet tall and striped like tigers.
More after the jump.
3D Avatar vs. 2D Avatar, and the Importance of Aspect Ratios
Posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Courtesy of an audio recording made by the Marketsaw folk, the vast majority of us who were not lucky enough to attend James Cameron’s special appearance at the Santa Monica Aero Theatre can now eavesdrop on all 43 minutes of it. Lots of discussion then, on everything from the film’s CG to the Simulcam system that Cameron is using to visualise the film’s FX on set, but the key detail was perhaps the rather surprising announcement that the 2D and 3D versions of Avatar will each be released in a different aspect ratio.
Official Avatar Concept Art Is Surprising Stuff
Posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Having received two pieces of concept art for James Cameron’s Avatar, the stereophiles at Marketsaw approached Fox to see if they could legitimately run the images. Thankfully, Fox said yes. You can see both of the pictures below the break - though you should be warned that they do reveal some not-really-spoilerish details of the narrative (and I do so too, in providing context).
Is This a Powersuit From James Cameron’s Avatar?
Posted on Monday, May 25th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Marketsaw, the number one Avatar obsessives to hold a blogspot account in all of this world, have posted an image of what to my eye appears to be a Powersuit from James Cameron’s upcoming epic. You can see part of the picture up above and the whole thing is below the break. Jim at Marketsaw was asking for somebody to comment and name the image, so I thought I’d oblige. What jolly japes.
Previously, Marketsaw received and published what ultimately turned out to be the very first confirmed image of the Na’vi, the alien species at the heart of the movie’s storyline. I think Marketsaw have got a really good track record with this film and as such, I trust the image is one hundred percent real.
IMAX Considering 3 Month Run for James Cameron’s Avatar
Posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
What are Hollywood’s expectations for James Cameron’s Avatar? We haven’t even seen a trailer, or even a photo, but many are already touting a “revolution.” With the director of the highest grossing film of all time behind it, everyone is hoping for big.
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James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver Talk Avatar, Sam Worthington in Every Scene?
Posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Did you know, Sam Worthington is in every scene of James Cameron’s Avatar? Cameron revealed this bit of information on stage while presenting Worthington with the Breakthrough award at Australians In Film Awards.
“We were making a $200 million-plus movie and it’s all about the journey of one guy, Jake, and he’s in every scene in the film, from beginning to end. It all hangs on that one piece of casting.”
Cameron also did a brief interview on the red carpet before the event, and reiterated the claim that Avatar “takes place in another world and you’ll feel like you’ve been to that world.” Watch the interview after the jump.
Read More »
