The Top Ten 3D Movies Of 2009

Jim here. So what do you think - consensus on everybody's number 1? :-) I think so! Anyway, this list was due and I am sure others will want to voice their opinion as well so feel free to chime in with your top ten list too.

Here is mine in reverse order (Title - Studio | World Box Office | Tomatometer | Format - comment):

10. G-FORCE - Disney | $283m | 24% Fresh | CG / Live Action - A notable conversion effort.
9. THE FINAL DESTINATION - Warners | $153m | 28% Fresh | Live Action - Interesting seeing Death work in three dimensions.
8. DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Disney | $255m | 55% Fresh | CG MoCap - Visually quite stunning, though character's faces were soulless.
7. MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D - Lionsgate | $100m | 55% Fresh | Live Action - Very good revisit to the original horror.
6. MONSTERS VS. ALIENS - DWA | $382m | 72% Fresh | Animation - Not Dreamworks best, but far from worst. Expect much more with HTTYD.
5. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS - Sony | $195m | 85% Fresh | Animation - Excellent first outing in 3D animation for Sony. Impressed. Rivals DWA today.
4. CORALINE - Focus Features | $122m | 89% Fresh | Stop Motion - Henry Selick's vision and attention to details is astounding.
3. ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS - Fox | $888m | 45% Fresh | Animation - There is no doubting the worldwide popularity. Family Appeal.
2. UP - Pixar | $683m | 98% Fresh | Animation - A masterpiece of storytelling. 3D used well.
1. AVATAR - Fox | $760m, Still In Theaters | 83% Fresh | CG PerfCap / Live Action - Revolutionary Cinema. Nothing short of an event movie for this generation. A must see... twice.

Honorable Mention: TOY STORY 1 & 2 3D Conversions.
Worst of 2009: BATTLE FOR TERRA

There is no doubting AVATAR as the top 3D movie of 2009. It may be the top MOVIE of the past decade. I certainly believe it is. Pixar has a heckuva entry with UP because the story is typical Pixar and so is the visual quality. And ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS was great family fun AND it raked in the cash.

All in all, a superb year for 3D! I look forward to 2010 and all the surprises in store: ALICE IN WONDERLAND, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, SHREK FOREVER AFTER, TOY STORY 3, MEGAMIND, RAPUNZEL, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, SAW VII, TRON LEGACY to name a few.

Stay tuned for the 2010 3D Movie Viewing Guide! Now what is your top ten list for 3D in 2009?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Jim here. I am sure I speak for Michael too: Happy Holidays to all our great MarketSaw readers! You make it a privilege to keep you all updated on S3D news - Hope you all have a wonderful season and all the best to you and yours!!

May 2010 bring wondrous S3D surprises our way - AVATAR isn't a bad start is it?? :-)

The Top Ten Most Anticipated 3D Movies Of 2009

Jim here. Well it is almost upon us - the year of 3D: 2009!

And what a year it will be. We have seasoned directors with mega budgets all the way to new directors with limited resources but tons of talent. What's the common thread among them? 3D. Mark my words - like I have said all along - 2009 is the year 3D earns much deserved RESPECT. Respect from studios/theaters for the added revenue that it brings in; from audiences for the massive step forward toward total immersion in movies; and from the media who still have members clinging desperately to bygone eras, claiming 3D is a gimmick and nothing but a fad. You are about to be assimulated.

Moreover, audiences will begin to see the creativity of the people involved in stereoscopic 3D movies start to explode with freshness that hasn't been seen in Hollywood since, well probably THE MATRIX. Directors will challenge themselves with 3D projects. Actors will be chomping at the bit to get their mugs up on the silver screen in full three dimensions. The teams behind the scenes will work harder, share more and reach out to learn more about 3D - because there is definitely plenty of opportunity in the 3D business nowadays!

We couldn't have even had this list a year ago - there wasn't enough projects on the go for 2008. That is no longer an issue obviously with the fine slate available to us for 2009...

So it is with a great deal of excitement that I present the Top Ten Most Anticipated 3D Movies Of 2009:

1. AVATAR (James Cameron) (Fox) - December 18
There can be NO doubt this is the most looked forward to 3D movie of 2009. Heck of ANY movie. I am placing this above STAR TREK, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE and TERMINATOR: SALVATION on my own personal catch all list (includes 2D movies obviously) - so you know you better damn well see this movie. AVATAR is a movie of epic proportions set partially on the planet Pandora and starring their indigenous creatures the Na'vi. It seems that these creatures are able to allow humans to combine with them in some fashion (no spoilers here!) and tells the tale of environmentalism and survival. Sam Worthington leads a stellar cast. What a stunning Sci-Fi line up for next year! You really should not need convincing. Cameron is proven. He is one of the top, if not the best in the genre (Aliens, Terminator). He has a mega budget - and he delivers on them (Titanic). The man simply connects to his audiences and is a perfectionist - Did I say that he also invented the damn 3D cameras he is using too? Yes he did. Look for records to fall with this one.

2. MONSTERS VS. ALIENS (Dreamworks Animation) - March 27
With all the evangelism that Jeffrey Katzenberg has been doing for the 3D industry this movie had better be good. And it LOOKS good, given the trailers I have seen. MvsA centers on an invasion of aliens intent on evil when mankind calls on their only viable option: Monsters. The movie is a homage to middle 20th century monsters movies. The premise is delicious. Can they pull it off? Well they are definitely approaching 3D the right way - total commitment. All future tentpoles from DWA will be in stereoscopic 3D and by stating that up front, they are pulling the trigger to develop cutting edge systems to develop in the medium. They have some great talents behind the systems too and I believe they will be the studio to watch in coming years. Some great talent voicing the creatures too like SETH ROGEN and REESE WITHERSPOON.

3. DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Robert Zemeckis) (Disney) - November 6
Zemeckis has had ample time to work on any motion capture issues he may have had while working on BEOWULF and this time around we are going to see some stunning effects. Add in Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman, probably the most beloved Christmas story of all time and 3D and it makes for a heckuva presentation. Disney has commited to only producing 3D movies for their animated tentpoles from now on as well. Ebenezer Scrooge (JIM CARREY) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (GARY OLDMAN) and his cheery nephew (COLIN FIRTH). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it’s too late. Carrey plays SEVEN roles btw!

4. CORALINE (Henry Selick) (Focus Features) - February 6
This could be the sleeper hit of 2009. We all know Selick's work from A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and many have seen the intricate behind the scenes detail that his team is putting into this stop action 3D movie. How well will it perform? Obviously Neil Gaiman (author) has a huge following to begin with and the younger crowd will be enchanted by the story but can it have broad appeal? I say it will. This should be a visual stunner. The movie is about a young girl (voiced by DAKOTA FANNING) who discovers an alternate reality where things are not quite right. A grand adventure!

5. ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (Fox) - July 1
I am the first to admit that I hate RAY ROMANO as an actor. Really hate him. But his voice is somewhat appealing and thankfully that is what has been injected into this film. The ICE AGE franchise is proven and with the addition of 3D, the box office for this flick should be somewhere north of spectacular. And the trailers are absolutely entertaining.

6. UP (Pixar) - May 29
You guys know what Pixar is capable of in 2D. Well now they are directing their tablet styluses toward an all 3D lineup of movies from now on. Have you seen the trailer yet (only in 2D mind you!). UP is a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 9-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. The only reason I am putting Up in sixth and not fifth is that ICE AGE is proven. I could very well enjoy UP much better - we shall see!

7. MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D (Patrick Lussier) (Lionsgate) - January 16th
The first offering of 2009 has had some great reviews already from some super advance screenings. AND it is rated R. Why? Here is the MPAA's reasoning: Rated R for graphic brutal horror violence and grisly images throughout, some strong sexuality, graphic nudity and language. Tom (Jensen Ackles) returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, however, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame (Jaime King) is the only one will believes he's innocent. Definitely checking this one out ASAP.

8. FINAL DESTINATION: DEATH TRIP 3D (David R. Ellis) (New Line) - August 21
The second 3D horror movie of the year of note is from the FINAL DESTINATION franchise and is bound to do well as have the predecessors. Inject some 3D and you should have a refreshed approached to a formula that works. I am looking forward to seeing this one because 3D offers directors so many more creative choices. Should be great. Synopsis: After a teen's premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps saves the lives of his peers, Death sets out to collect those who evaded their end.

9. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (Sony Pictures Imageworks Animation) - September 18
I have elected to place CWCM ahead of Disney's G-FORCE because I think the potential is larger for a bigger hit and I am giving the storyline a lot of credit here. Sure, Disney has a little more experience with 3D but I am giving Sony a nod here. Food pours down from above just when the a town called Chewandswallow needs it most - however it soon overwhelms everyone. The movie will be in the style of BEOWULF (motion capture). **Update from Rob Engle of Sony: CLOUDY is 100% keyframe animated - no motion capture. Speaking with Rob has only reinforced my enthusiasm for this movie - sounds awesome.

10. G-FORCE (Disney) - July 24
Could have been higher, but I went with CWCM instead based on storyline and method of animation. Kids will love this one though - An elite guinea pig commando force try to stop a billionaire from taking over the world? Pure mayhem. **Update from Rob Engle at Sony: "G-FORCE is the first hybrid stereoscopic production... part 2-D to 3-D conversion, part CG. All the plate photography was shot in 2-D on film." Interesting to see another 2D->3D conversion project on the go.

Honorable Mentions:
CONVERSIONS! TOY STORY, DAWN OF THE DEAD and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (Romero - colorized) are being converted from 2D to 3D and I am itching to see both of them again! These will obviously do well from their following and indeed sprout new fans with these releases. I have not included conversions on this list, but if readers say so, I will going forth! Note that G-FORCE is a conversion project, but it is an original effort and not a re-release of a 2D movie.

PIRANHA 3D: Let me just say that if Alexandre Aja's PIRANHA 3D makes it out in 2009 - it will definitely move up in my list! But, it looks like it will be more likely a 2010 release as production was pushed back until spring of 2009 from the fall of 2008. I am a huge Aja fan and REALLY looking forward to this 3D effort from him.

JONAS BROTHERS CONCERT: Oh yeah - the 'tweens will love it and it will probably do as well as Hannah Montana's did this year - sorry it didn't crack the top 10 though!

There are a few 3D movies slated for 2009 without release dates yet - like THE DARK COUNTRY and HORRORWEEN so I could not include them in case they do not get the distribution they want in time for 2009. Both of these examples are definitely on my list to see.

For my constantly updated list of upcoming 3D movies (out to 2012 currently) check out this page.

So what do you think? I want to hear your opinions on what will kick some 3D butt in 2009! How do you think the big 2D movies will stack up against the behemoth AVATAR? Personally, I think Cameron and crew will at least double them up - but I am a wee bit biased...

Quick Post: IMAX's "Under The Sea 3D" Website Now Live

Check out the new website for IMAX's "Under The Sea 3D" which is due out on the giant screens in the spring of 2009.

This looks stunning - especially for a family outing to the movies...

3D works especially WELL with underwater environments (just ask James Cameron and Vince Pace) as the sea life seem suspended and coming at you from all angles.

Final Destination 4: Finally Cast

The upcoming 3D splatter movie "Final Destination 4" has been cast. Much interest was generated in this process due to some of the auditions being posted online (you can view them here). The final cast members are: Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, Hayley Webb, Nick Zano, Krista Allen and Andy Fiscella.

The movie starts shooting in New Orleans this month. As posted earlier, the plot centers on a race car crash that sends huge car parts into a watching grandstand full of people. The movie is being directed by David R. Ellis for release in 2009.

I am really looking forward to seeing this actually. The premise has been proven to work, and by throwing in 3D I expect to be thoroughly shocked with some of the ingenious ways for these characters to met their demise. Once in awhile you just have to let go don't ya??

G-Force and Alice in Wonderland Get Dates From Disney!

The best 3D movie list of rumored, planned, in production and in theaters has been updated yet again - nothing new here, I do it probably 4 or 5 times a week. However there are a couple of important dates being added:

1. Disney's "G-Force" (Jerry Bruckheimer) has been set for July 24th, 2009 - Its a 3D movie with mixed Live Action and Animation and voices by Penelope Cruz, Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, Bill Nighy and Tracy Morgan. The story revolves around an elite guinea pig commando force try to stop a billionaire from taking over the world. :-)

2. Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" (Tim Burton) has been set for a March 19th, 2010 release date. I believe you are familiar with the plot for this one...

Check out all the new 3D movies lining up here!

Avatar: The Game - Ubisoft's Epic to be in 3D?

Interesting rumor. "Surfer Girl" has dropped a bombshell that frankly I had previously posted might happen. Ubisoft will be shipping high quality, stereoscopic 3D glasses with "Avatar The Game" when it is released along with the movie in 2009; hence a 3D gaming environment.

I openly postulated about this premise when we heard that James Cameron's vision of a MMORPG game was passed over for a simpler concept. Well it was simpler at a high level, but add in 3D and you quickly realize why releasing a MMORPG would have been impossible.

It may be a gamble for Cameron and Ubisoft to run down this movie focused 3D gaming path before anyone else, but then again, it will undoubtedly become a brilliant piece of maneuvering. It was Cameron who has the vision of linking gaming environments and movie environments! So it is a natural link to have them both in 3D for Avatar. We just need to get those at-home game level designers to start contributing to the movie sets as well!

Am I going to be getting a copy of this game? You bet. I also have a couple of friends at Ubisoft in Montreal - time to fly off a few emails!

Digg This!

Avatar's Michelle Rodriguez To Start Jail Term Today

Unfortunately for Michelle Rodriguez and her family, she must start her 6 month jail term today - Christmas Eve. The impact on the Avatar shooting schedule is still relatively unknown except for the obvious delays that were encountered at the beginning of the project for several weeks. I am not sure if time off for good behavior is a possibility but I would bet that it is.

James Cameron has already shuffled his shooting schedule around this "hard stop" of one of his stars - let's hope the impact to the movie is minimal as well as to her family. Call backs would be a possibility now as well with the release date pushed back to December 2009. Hmmm, another contributing factor to the launch delay?

Monsters vs. Aliens: Video Game Lined Up

Activision announced yesterday that they will be releasing a "Monsters vs. Aliens" video game for their fiscal 2009 lineup which ends coincidently about the same time as the 3D Dreamworks Animation movie will be released in theaters (March 2009).

This is becoming the norm for major 3D releases it appears. James Cameron's "Avatar" will also have a co-branded video game released concurrently with the movie in the summer of 2009 by game producer Ubisoft.

And as I have speculated in the past, look for more and more robust games to be tied into these movies: MMORPGs and potentially even user generated gaming levels and movie backgrounds tied together. That's right. Getting the fans to create modification levels for their branded games, then reusing those same levels as the backdrop for the movies themselves. Now that is a cool idea. Jim & Jeff - are you on that?

Monsters vs. Aliens vs. The Easter Bunny?

In a surprise move for Dreamworks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced today that they are moving the launch of Monsters vs. Aliens back to March 27, 2009 to further widen the gap between the opening nights of it and James Cameron's Avatar. Surprising because it is the first time in DWA's history that they have not launched a major movie in the summer. Both movies are of course in 3D and with only 6000-8000 screens being able to handle the technology in 2009, the pie had better be split up.

"In 2009, summer begins on March 29," stated Katzenberg.

I personally don't blame them. Avatar is going to be huge and it makes no sense to lose screens to that behemoth of a movie. Read more about their showdown here.

James Cameron's Avatar Scriptment Info...

For those that are interested! Here is a review of the original scriptment for Avatar that is years old. Remember this will obviously have changed by now, but it does color the film somewhat. Enjoy!

We begin on planet Earth a hundred years hence, and it's pretty depressing. The planet's ecosystem has been so exploited by humankind that it can barely even shelter us any longer. Stripmining, air pollution, and every other form of exploitation and abuse have lead to mankind living in a tired world. "A cross between THX-1138 and a Calcutta train station," says the scriptment.

Because we've used up all Earth's resources (and apparently recycling techniques haven't advanced much) many companies are looking to the rest of the galaxy for new resources, and there's no extraterrestrial locale richer in resources than Pandora. Sure, pillaging Pandora has its problems (it's five light-years away and its atmosphere is toxic for humans to breathe) but its billions and billions of dollars worth of a (fictitious) superconducter called unobatainium make those hurdles well worth jumping over. There's a joint-venture of companies called the RDA who have a massive colony on Pandora to mine for unobtainium, as well as Pandora's many other resources.

Josh Sully (mid-twenties), is a disllusioned war vet, paralyzed from some meaningless war a few years back. (Spinal medicine apparently hasn't advanced much, either. Like much of science fiction - including even Star Trek - Avatar is frustratingly selective about how and where our technology has advanced.) Because he happens to have genes which are useful to the RDA, Josh ultimately finds himself making the three-year trip to Pandora to work on the Avatar program.

Pandora's most sentient race is called the Na'vi, and the RDA has a way to communicate with them. They grow Na'vi bodies and then those bodies are controlled externally by, well, "controllers". The controllers wear a headset called the link, and their human bodies are effectively unconscious while commandeering their Na'vi avatar. (Only a small percentage of humans have genes which allow for an Avatar body to be grown for them, and Josh is needed because he's in the minority.)

So Josh and the new crew from Earth awaken from suspended animation and arrive at the RDA's Pandora colony. It's run by Selfridge, an efficient company man wholly dedicated to the RDA. He also oversees the compound's massive, highly-trained military force, SECFOR, which is run mostly by Colonel Quaritch, a military man through-and-through who loves blood and hates life....especially Pandoran life.

Josh also meets Grace, who is both an Avatar and the compound's "xenobotanist". After he defends himself against her cynicism and insults, Grace takes to Josh and eventually becomes his mentor. (In the film, Grace will be the head of the entire Avatar program.)

So Josh begins life as a Na'vi. Their bodies are very human-like - they're bipedal and with similar faces - but they're blue, 10-feet tall, and evoke a feline impression, complete with a tail. Also, the Na'vi are much stronger, faster, and more agile than humans. At first, Josh is just happy to be walking again.

The Avatar program is just a small part of the RDA's Pandoran operation, there's a palpable tension between those in the Avatar program and everybody else. While most of the people at Hell's Gate (the RDA compound) are just mindless labor or system-dependant troops, the Avatar controllers are described sort of like a pack of stoners, high on the experience of living as a Na'vi. Says the scriptment, "They are a scruffy, smelly lot...with unkempt hair and beards and poor appetites."

When you put these two types of people together....something's bound to snap.

During an early venture into the beautiful but ultra-lethal Pandoran wilderness, one of the trigger-happy troops is about to fire at Grace's Avatar. Josh, now comfortable in his Avatar body, manhandles the troop (like a "ragdoll") and this doesn't exactly help in easing the tension between the two groups.

Later, on a seperate venture into Pandora, Josh gets seperated from the rest of the Avatars and finds himself having to fend for himself in the ultra-savage Pandoran wilderness. This is like putting a three year-old out in the middle of the worst jungles of Africa and expecting him to survive. The only way to survive in Pandora is knowledge, and Josh is still a novice.

But he's brave. After witnessing a manticore ("This thing could eat a T-Rex and have the Alien for dessert") scarf down a titanothere (like a rhino, only bigger and faster), Josh is then attacked by a pack of viperwolves ("Wolves as painted by Francis Bacon") and is saved by somebody who has a lot of knowledge of Pandora: Zuleika, the princess of the local Na'vi tribe. (How does she look? Well, when was the last time you saw an ugly princess in a Hollywood movie?)

Like Grace, Josh gets through Zuleika's tough exterior because she's inspired by his bravery and feistiness.

So Zuleika takes Josh back to her village, showing him the infinite mysteries of the Pandoran ecosystem. (It's like listening to a Greenpeace fanatic talk about Earth.) Josh meets the tribe, including Zuleika's parents, and begins the spiritual transformation from human to Na'vi. He feels "right" as a Na'vi.

(The scriptment makes clear in numerous places that the Na'vi are analogs for the Native Americans and their culture emobodies all of the traits that we descendants of European Christendom most romanticize about the Native Americans: a close community, a connection to the spiritual world, and, most of all, harmony with nature. And in Pandora, the spirtual world and nature are synonymous.

(In keeping with this analogy, the RDA is openly modeled after the European settlers.)

In the following days, Josh and Zuleika's bond grows and there's an elaborate montage of Josh fully learning the ways of the Na'vi and how to surivive in Pandora. He's a natural amongst them, and far more intuitive than the other science-minded Avatars. And more courageous, too.

Because of this, Josh is the first Avatar that the Na'vi invite into their ritualistic sturmbeest hunt (i.e., a buffalo hunt squared). This is where the important concept of "queueing" comes into play. Most Pandoran creatures have an external nerve which acts as an input port to their brains. The Na'vi have the output, called their queue, which enables them to jack into the animals and commandeer them. (The Na'vi queue looks like a ponytail, with the hair being functional nerves.)

After the sturmbeest hunt (where Josh again proves his courageous mettle), he partakes in the Na'vi's festive celebration. Afterwards, Zuleika takes Josh to her special place in the forest and they make love.

The next day, the real trouble begins. Selfridge unexpectedly bulldozes a large section of the Na'vi forest, including sacred land. Josh and Grace, in human form, argue against this new construction, especially in light of the new potential Josh's bonding with the Na'vi has created. But Selfridge and the troops are sick of the Avatar program (presumably jealous of them), and the bulldozing continues the next day. This time, Powersuit-armed troops accompany the bulldozers, killing anything that moves. Powersuits, as their name suggests, are massive robotic soots that dramatically improve the troops size, speed, strength, etc.

Josh realizes that there's no reasoning with Selfridge or the system-worshipping troops and bureaucrats beneath him, so he seeks assistance from his fellow controllers, trying to arrange some sort of coup. "Pandora is not Hell, it's Eden. And Eden is being bulldozed and stripmined and raped. We have no right. We are the aliens here. We are the space monsters".

The Avatar controllers might have free minds but, alas, they're non-committal.

That's cool. Because it's not like the Na'vi were responding to the foreign aggression with sing-ins and picket signs. Led by Tsu Te, their greatest warrior, the Na'vi sabotage the RDA's construction equipment, destroying it with a napalm-like incendiary.

The next day Selfridge orders a retaliatory raid and Quaritch and his troops love it. They hop into their powersuits and raid the Na'vi with an assault that makes Haditha or My Lai look like a schoolyard scuffle. Countless Na'vi are killed, including the tribe's patriach (Zuleika's father), and many others are taken prisoner....including Zuleika.

Selfridge has also shut down the Avatar program, physically turning off the link equipment. But Josh, Grace, and several others head to Site 26, an auxiliary link facility. On the way, Grace takes a bullet, and her human body ultimately dies.

After re-linking to his Avatar, Josh goes to the Na'vi and helps them orchestrate a rescue of their imprisoned friends. (There's nothing especially clever about this rescue: they get in under cover of the RDA's tractors and protect themselves from the automated sentry guns by wearing employee's identifying badges.)

As the Na'vi are fleeing the facility, Quaritch and the rest of the troops discover what's happened and they Powersuit up and chase the Na'vi into the forest. The Na'vi, though, utterly destroy the troops, killing many of them brutally. Quaritch, the bloodthirsty trooper, is left dumbstruck at the defeat of his team. "What the hell is happening. They just go their asses kicked by bows and arrows?"

This episode prompts a formal declaration of war from Selfridge: the Na'vi are all to be killed, as are the renegade controllers.

And Josh is rallying the Na'vi with no less enthusiasm. He gives his best Henry V speech. Here's an excerpt:

"He tells them they are not just fighting for this part of the forest or these few trees, but for the very future of their world. He says the history [of the humans]....is one of blood. For as long as can be remembered, they take what is not theirs.... Their world, their forest, is a dying place. A poisoned place. They have killed their mother. And they will do the same here. They must be driven away. When they come again they will come with all their force, and we must be ready. We must fight, to our last breath...."

After speech, Grace's Na'vi body miraculously appears. (Her human body had been killed, remember.) Grace, now living exclusively as a Na'vi, explains the wholistic wonders of the Pandoran ecosystem. Pandora, the planet itself, is essentially a brain, its tress are the neurons, their roots its synapses. The humans and their troops were a cancer for Pandora, and so it used its resources (the animal and the plants) to cleanse itself of the cancer. Lastly (and this will be important later), Pandora can sometimes do a "soul transfer", put one consciousness into another body (where the Na'vi keep their spare bodies, I don't know), and it chose to save Grace's soul in this manner.

Josh then has all the Na'vi queue into the planet itself so that he can explain to Pandora the magnitude of the danger the humans present. He tells her about the Navajo and the Sioux, and how their treaties and their trust was betrayed, as will Pandora be betrayed if she trusts the humans.

Pandora listens.

The next day, Selfridge and Quaritch begin the epic war that will later be called the Battle of the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

The first part of the battle is in the air between thousands of queued Na'vi riding bansheerays and leonyptertyx (savage, hawk-like predators with wingspans of perhaps 30 meters) against dozens of humans vehicles, which all have VTOL ability. Most of the human ships are destroyed in a hydrogen explosion when a massive hydrogen-based bug is detonated.

While the air battle rages, dozens of troops in Powersuits raid the forest, as well. Here, the Na'vi have the help of all of Pandora's creatures, which the planet has directed against the humans.

Now these two interconnected battles are too dense with events for me to explain here. Suffice to say, the Pandorans eventually come ou ton top.

The battle climaxes in a fight between Josh (as a Na'vi, of course) fighting Colonel Quaritch in a Powersuit. Josh eventually gets Quaritch out of the suit. Quaritch flees back to the base on foot but is chased down by a pack of viperwolves.

And that's it for the Battle of the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

All the surviving humans are rounded up - including Selfridge - and shipped back to the command ship in Pandora's orbit. Josh bluffs to them that Pandora is developing an extremely potent antibody for humans in its atmosphere, and if they return they will all certainly die.

That night, the Na'vi gather in a chant, queued into the planet itself. Josh's human and Avatar bodies lie side by side. His rebreather is removed from his human body, insuring its death. Zuleika kisses him....and his Na'vi eyes open."

Text in green above from David Brennan.

Avatar vs. Monsters vs. Aliens - 2009 !

Be prepared for battle. Memorial Day weekend, 2009 is desperately wanted by both James Cameron's Avatar (20th Century Fox) and Jeffrey Katzenberg's Monsters vs. Aliens. BOTH are 3D and there will only be 5 to 6 thousand theaters built by then (only 700 today). That is a problem. They both want awesome opening weekend box office takes, and have laid down their gauntlets.


Click the image to enlarge.

There is little doubt both of these films will be spectacular as I have already pointed out in earlier posts (Avatar). But I would wager that Avatar will do better as the effects involve humans and not cartoons. I am staggered by the technology that Cameron is employing in his production.

Recently, production companies have needed to solidify their toehold for a release date as far out as possible as the opening weekend stakes are high (up to 25% of total revenue) - and this is further complicated by the fact that theater owners need to spend an average of $40,000 to upgrade their existing equipment to the new, theater experience savior, 3D Digital.

With many homes now outfitted with their own theaters, many people are simply choosing to stay home as new releases are released quickly to DVD nowadays. Something needs to excite them to come back to the cinema. 3D is it ! Believe me, you will be so enthralled by the new technology that many of you will be watching Avatar over and over again just for the experience.

And - someone is going to make a lot of money selling those 3D glasses. Not those 50 year old blue and red ones, but the new polarized ones (if you have been to an Imax 3D movie, you know what I mean). I am going to want to own my own set and not worry about using a properly cleansed set from a theater. I will buy my own.

If that wasn't enough conflict for ya -- Don't forget Steven Spielberg is releasing Interstellar in the summer of 2009 as well (putting Kip Thorne's theories to work). And then there is that little video game movie coming out... ahh what was it? Oh yeah: GEARS OF WAR. Yes sir, 2009 is going to be a heck of a summer.

AVATAR UPDATE: Cameron's Vision and a Video Game?!

BusinessWeek's (BW) cover story for the April 2nd edition is all about 'Motion Capture' or 'Performance Capture' in James Cameron's world. He says that actors convey emotion, not motion thus the terminology.

Also revealed about Avatar during BW's interview is that "The futuristic movie about an ex-Marine will be released in 2009 simultaneously with a massive, multiplayer, video game based on the film." Cameron is really starting to put into action his plans of the last 10 years. Finally the technology that he has been seeking to make his dream projects are becoming reality--or virtually reality. :-)

Cameron's longer term vision takes into account the power of the MMORG and merges it with film. No more camera angle switching - you are IN THE MOVIE, invisible and omnipotent to the scene; you can elect to view the scenes from any angle and you are swept to that position seamlessly. He sees his virtual worlds that are created for film, being re-purposed for gaming. Cameron would like to work with individuals to create lavish fantasy environments for gaming and films, I suppose like hard core gamers use level editors to build new maps to share with their community. Awesome stuff here. If Cameron can achieve half of what he is talking about, the entertainment industry would be spun upside down. He sees this technology taking place certainly years down the road, but not decades. Imagine watching a 3D immersive film and seeing the car or building you created in the background! Some video games just are not successful until they open up level editing to the public; they need that domino effect and quite frankly, the public generated maps and levels are typically better than the originally engineered ones! Now bring scenario that to digital 3D film and you are starting to get it.

But for today's world, Cameron is happy with advances like doing away with dozens of sensors on actors faces and replacing it with a form-fitting device that traces their movements via mini-cameras and software. Actors can don this equipment minutes before a take rather than endure hours in the makeup chair. A lot of money is going to be saved here. In fact, the industry will be able to use a single actor to portray a life, from child to senior without makeup.

Probably the most important contribution for his vision thus far is the 3D digital filming using 'Performance Capture'. Cameron can actually see what the actor is doing as it will roughly appear in the final film ("a reality level equal to an '80s video game") while the end product will be 100% photo-realistic. He will be able to make minute changes not possible before because you would have to wait months to see the visual effects after all the shooting has been done. You don't want to have to call back the cast for re-shoots; and in many cases it is simply impossible with busy actors. Pragmatically and operationally Cameron has come a long way. No wonder the studio jumped at this opportunity after seeing the level of detail Cameron had already put into the planning. The excitement sure is building for Avatar and it will soon be reality.