With Avatar less than a month away, Fox has released a new featurette that has James Cameron talking about the science and hardware that can be found in the film.  As much as I am trying to avoid any spoilers, I do think it’s a must watch.  You really start to get a sense of just how detailed and well thought out the world of Pandora is.  Plus, the small glimpses we get of the action scenes don’t hurt. You can see the clip after the jump.

A four minute clip from James Cameron’s Avatar has been thrown on the internet thanks to Xbox Live and someone in France with a camcorder.  Apparently the footage was seen on Avatar day, so it’s not all new.  But if you didn’t get into to Avatar day and you weren’t at Comic-Con, this is a way to see a full scene play out.

I watched the first minute and can see why everyone is freaking out about this movie after they see it in 3D.  The detail looks incredible.  Saying that, I don’t think watching a 3D movie on your computer screen is the way to see anything from this movie.  So I’ll wait, as the movie is coming out in a month.  But if you want to check it out, hit the jump:

[I don't think Avatar is going to be a film that relies heavily on twists, but if you want to go into the film knowing as little as possible, then you should stop reading this story right now.]

A new featurette for James Cameron’s just landed on Yahoo! Movies’ Taiwanese site and it takes you through the big beats of the story.  It doesn’t go in depth for any character other than the protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), but it does explain the tone of the film and how Cameron intends to mix the beauty and danger of the film’s setting, the planet Pandora.  It’s probably not going to sway any opinions on the film but it’s worth a look nonetheless.  Click here to give it a look (although you may want to use IE as your browser; I found watching it to be a tad dodgy on Firefox).

It’s been a pretty crazy week for news here at Collider as Steve landed the first photos and full synopses from dozens of upcoming films.  If you haven’t seen them, you can check them out here, here, here, and here.  That was on top of all the good stuff we bring you on a regular basis.  But even with all the news we posted this week, there’s still more and while we didn’t have time to give these stories their own articles, we wanted to make sure you knew about some other cool stuff from the past few days.

Hit the jump to read about how James Franco’s General Hospital stint folds into a larger art project he’s doing, South Park taking their shot at James Cameron’s Avatar, Spider-Man finally arrested for being a menace, and more.

It looks like James Cameron’s Avatar is being setup to fail by every metric possible except the one that counts: “Is it a good movie?”  Set up for a fall by unreasonable expectations brought on by intense secrecy, Avatar has already been derided for lackluster CG (even though Cameron said at Comic-Con that it was Gollum back in 2002 which confirmed that Avatar was possible) and a New York Times piece which applauded Cameron as a craftsman but one completely oblivious to the needs of actors or a rich story.

Now another damaging story has appeared in the NY Times, this time reporting that the cost of production and marketing for Avatar, spread out over multiple investors, is $500 million dollars.  Hit the jump for details and remember that you’ve decided to be disappointed no matter what.

We missed some stories this past week.  We’re sorry.  But we did not forget them.  We never forget.  We’re like elephants and people who hold grudges.  With that in mind, here are some stories that are a little late but they’re still great.  You can enjoy them all after the jump.

I have no idea how you people interested in a movie not based on a franchise, starring giant blue aliens some people say look fake (I’m not one of them but I can their understand point), and the first film in twelve years from the director whose last film, “Titanic”, has not aged well.  Fox’s solution is that everyone who has their TV on Fox on Sunday will be aware of “Avatar”.  Having attempted “Avatar Day” back in August for the teaser trailer, on November 1^st Fox will go for the world record of the largest viewing of a trailer in history.  Hit the jump to learn that there is no escape.

I’ll admit it: I was less than impressed with the first “Avatar” trailer.  I thought the movie looked decent, but it wasn’t the cinematic revolution everyone in Hollywood was talking about.  But friend after friend that had seen the 3D footage at Comic-Con and on “Avatar” day kept telling me you’ve got to see the footage in 3D.  They all said the first trailer didn’t have the magic that is “Avatar”.  And after watching the just released three and a half minute trailer for James Cameron’s return to movie theaters, I am now officially on board and shutting up.  This movie looks fantastic and any bit of hesitation has vanished.  If you were in the same boat as me about the first trailer, you absolutely need to watch this new one.  You’ll be sold.

As I mentioned with the bootleg, I’m excited for “Avatar” because it looks like a fun adventure film and I’m not going to pick apart the CG since I believe story and characters come first anyway.  This new trailer is what features those elements.  It’s also the trailer you saw as a bootleg and the trailer you’ll see tomorrow at 1pm EST.  We’re just bringing you this one now because other than the subtitles, this is the full trailer.  If you’re not freaked out by a foreign language at the bottom of the screen, then check out the trailer after the jump plus a  photo of a French poster for the film.

“Avatar” hits theaters on December 16^th.

UPDATE: A new Featurette has been released. Check it out after the jump:

In a move no one could have expected, the new three and a half minute trailer for James Cameron’s “Avatar” has been bootlegged and put on the Internet.  Obviously, it’s unfair to judge the visuals based on this trailer but oddly enough, it made me want to see it in theaters because the visual scope is so massive that a tiny, handheld camera can’t begin to capture it.  There are some new photos we’ve included after the jump but apparently all those do is make people bitch that the CG looks crappy.  Sigh.

But as for the (remarkably steady) bootleg what you’ll get most is story.  Some would argue that it gives the whole film away, but this is an adventure story and since it’s obvious where it’s heading, Fox is making a big push to get people interested especially after “Avatar Day” flopped.  I’m already excited to see “Avatar” because it looks like a big, fun adventure story and that’s good enough for me.  For everyone else hit the jump and hopefully this new trailer will turn you around on the film.  The official online version of this trailer goes online October 29^th but you can catch it in theaters starting today.

The green carpet iss hard to miss. Last year, in a deviation from traditional protocol, the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), became the first film festival in the world to make ecology awareness its major theme. After an overwhelmingly positive response to the unrolling of the green carpet, TIFF’s chairman, Tatsumi Yoda, decided to do it again this year. With the environmentally conscious slogan of “Action! for Earth,” the 22^nd annual TIFF began this past Saturday in Roppongi, one of Tokyo’s most upscale and cosmopolitan districts. Over the next week Collider will be providing an exclusive, inside look into the festival as well as movie reviews and awards announcements. Hit the jump! for Earth.

A few new high quality images from James Cameron’s “Avatar” have hit the net and I have to say…they look great. While I was one of the people less than impressed with the 2D trailer, every single person I have spoken with who has seen the 3D footage tells me it’s amazing and I should only see it in that format. And believe me…I will. After all, James Cameron spent years perfecting the technology to make “Avatar”, and I only want to see the film in a theater that can display his vision properly. Anyway, check out these images. They’re really great.

The latest remake news is that “Night of the Living Dead” is now being “remade” as a 3D CGI orgin story titled “Night of the Living Dead: Origins”  The film has been remade a couple of times already thanks to being in the public domain, but this new take aims to  update the tale partially by bringing out the characters’ back stories.  The film will be produced by Simon West (”Con Air”) and directed by newcomer director Zebediah de Soto who aims to make the film into a “American-style anime.”  The film will also use this new technology that the director helped invent named “The Beast”.  You can read all about that along with some other details when you hit the jump.

A few days ago, I was able to speak with Zoe Saldana with a few other reporters. While most of what we talked about is under embargo, I’m able to post her talking about how excited she is to make another “Star Trek” movie and her reaction to “Avatar” day a few weeks ago. Read what Zoe said after the jump:

Digital 3D is about to get a huge boost thanks to JP Morgan. One of the obstacles in preventing 3D from catching on in a big bad way is the relatively small number of theaters that are set up with the necessary equipment. Well that’s about to change with news that the aforementioned firm will be sending out briefing books for over $525 million to the country’s three largest theater chains (Regal, AMC, and Cinemark). This will result in the theater chains adding 3D embellishments to many of their technical repertoire. Hit the jump for more.

I cannot believe I am writing this…but tickets for James Cameron’s “Avatar” are already on sale on movietickets.com and Fandango’s website. Yes, a movie that doesn’t get released till December 18^th already has tickets for sale! While I understand 20^th Century Fox needing to make back some of the reported $300 million budget, this is pretty early to be selling tickets.

The fact is…I don’t know what I’m doing this weekend, let alone December 18^th. But if “Avatar” is on your radar, I’d go buy tickets right now…especially for an IMAX 3D theater as those are going to sell out fast. Of course only a fraction of theaters are on sale right now, but I checked my area and tickets are available for the midnight show  at the Universal Citywalk IMAX theater in Los Angeles. It’s going to sell out quick so buy tickets now. Think eBay.