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 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.

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.

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.

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.

I would say that reactions thus far to James Cameron’s have been negative-to-mixed.  My personal reaction is that people are using the wrong metrics to judge it.  It’s an adventure film and you can make fun of the CG all you want but I’m more interested in seeing if it makes me believe this world and these characters actually exist.  What I saw at Comic-Con got me pretty close (I still have some problems with the texturing and how the Avatars look in the real world instead of the all-CG world of Pandora).

But one of the things I liked most about the Comic-Con footage was not only seeing Sigourney Weaver but seeing that she would be an Avatar alongside Sam Worthington.  Like Worthington, Weaver’s Avatar bears a resemblance to her real face and I think that’s fantastic because she’s such a great actress.  I’m happy that she’s not only reuniting with James Cameron but she has a real role as opposed to just a cameo.  Hit the jump to see Sigourney in her Na’vi form.  “Avatar” hits theatres on December 18th.

James Cameron’s “Avatar” now has a trailer. That’s right. You read that correctly. I never thought I would see the day but after months and months (and years) of waiting it is finally here. Did it live up to your expectations? Is your mind blown? Are you disappointed? Does this look even better than anything you expected? I’m very interested in reading what your thoughts are and I’m sure you will have some after you see the trailer when you hit the jump.

And you thought you’d have to wait till 7am PST to see “Avatar.” Nope. 20th Century Fox has pre-empted their own “Avatar Day” super mega event to show us a few screens of the new movie. We’ve got six new screens with the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, and that mean chick from “Lost.” You should check them out after the jump. I’m serious.

Judging from what I saw at Comic-Con (read my full coverage here; READ IT.), “Avatar” looks like a great adventure movie.  It’s not going to change cinema and our lives forever, but it looks like a grand adventure movie, and that really should be enough.  I was more exhilarated by the 25 minutes of footage I saw at Comic-Con than the never-ending runtime of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”.

While this first official image from the film originally appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Fox International has now released the photo online.  What you’re looking at takes place before the film goes completely CGI on the Nav’i planet but you get your first look at what an Avatar looks like.  Hit the jump to see the full image because you have to check this out.  Oh, there’s also an image of James Cameron holding a camera.  I really buried the lead there.

20^th Century Fox and IMAX have finally announced how and when you’ll be able to get tickets for James Cameron’s “Avatar” preview day at participating IMAX theaters and it’s this Monday at noon PST on the official Avatar movie website. They’re doing it first-come, first-serve, which means it’s not going to easy. Also, since there are only 100 IMAX theaters doing the preview at 6 and 6:30pm, demand will far outstrip supply. More after the jump:

I swear I’ll be done with Comic-Con today. What can I say, I was offered interviews with a ton of people and it takes time a lot of time to edit and post them. Anyway, if you’re looking forward to James Cameron’s “Avatar”, the interview you’re about to watch is with Stephen Lang and he talks about playing Col. Quaritch.

From what I could gather from both talking to Stephen Lang and other people at Comic-Con, Stephan plays a villain in the film. His character isn’t afraid to use violence to get things done, and I’m pretty sure that means using it against the native Na’vi population on Pandora. So after the jump you can hear Stephen talk about Comic-Con, how he got cast and what making the film was like, his character, and a lot more. Take a look: