New Trailer For AVATAR: SPECIAL EDITION!!

Here's the new official trailer for AVATAR: SPECIAL EDITION coming out in 3D theaters August 27 (only 2 weeks away)!

Remember this re-release includes NINE extra minutes of pure CG action! More Pandora creatures too - like the Sturmbeast and the Stingbat. Hear more about it in my recent conversation with James Cameron.

So hold tight guys - the new footage is almost here. Can't wait to relive Pandora once again in a new way!

Be sure to watch the trailer in HD!!

Breaking AVATAR News!

Jim here. Got a lot of AVATAR updates here (some are time sensitive) so let's get to it!

1. At NOON today, Fox will release a fully interactive AVATAR trailer utilizing Adobe Air technology. Techland got the goods on this one - the trailer will be available on AVATARMOVIE.COM. It will contain profiles on Jake and Neytiri and also designs for the Samson, Banshee, Scorpion, Thanator and AMP Suit. The following clip is from that new trailer technology (thanks Jsayson15!):



2. A matte painter who works for Weta in Wellington just confirmed that they have finished the final remaining shots: Of course you heard it here first :-) They did indeed hoist a drink to celebrate - champagne (thanks Shletten!).

3. The new higher resolution thanator chase scene with James Horner's music courtesy of IGN:

4. And lastly, as some of the work for AVATAR is winding down to a halt we have a personal rebuttal to some of the old negative words that have been said about this epic project. This is straight from a creative employee on the AVATAR team and from the heart:

Dear CHUD.com:
Are your feelings towards AVATAR really your own? Or, are they biased in any way? It really is a shame that you find the need to insult us time after time, rather than wait to see if the insults you throw at us hold any justification. Every aspect of this movie has been poured over by the most talented people in the business. Why? "Hopefully" for your eventual enjoyment. So I am writing to you directly in the hope of reaching that part of you that can understand where I am coming from. If you had put in the hours, days, months and years in on a project that you knew was groundbreaking, and would change the way future movie makers would be able to get projects from mind to page to screen, not to mention have created what I consider to be a genuine classic in the process. Would you not feel that little bit justified in defending your work?

So please consider the many thousands of people that have all come together to create this for your festive enjoyment. I think rather than criticism, your articles "Devin`s in particular" are more geared towards insulting a lot of talented people, and do not from what I gather contain any valid arguments. At least not until you have seen it. So why not just wait and see?

We await proving you entirely wrong in your... ahem "criticism".

Yes the hype has been huge, but in that very rare case, this time it is justified. By all means don't believe me. "I'm sure you will not" see for yourself. But please try not to insult the people that work for your enjoyment. I guarantee you this is on a scale never seen before. Oh and it delivers on the hype. In spades. I can not wait for the world to witness the revolution. This is James Cameron's masterpiece. I do not say those words lightly, anyone even slightly familiar with Jim's filmography knows that is a bold statement.

It is isnt it.

Best
The Thundersmurf.

Interesting. Over to you Devin?

Japanese Avatar Trailer With New Footage!

Michael here. MovieWeb has this Japanese trailer, which has some cool new shots:

Avatar Trailer 2 in HD + Official Site Updated!!!

SAME DAY UPDATE: The "James Cameron's Vision" Feauturette is now on Youtube in HD, and in standard def below:



Michael here. Trailer #2 is now available in gorgeous 480P, 720P, and 1080P exclusively on Yahoo!:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809804784/video/16357477

Also check out http://www.avatarmovie.com/, which has been massively updated with new pics (including the above shot of Jake's avatar wearing some kind of ear piece), new music, and more.

UPDATE: TheFilmStage has 126 beautiful 1080P screencaps from Trailer 2.

Featurette Reveals New Avatar Footage + Higher Quality Trailer #2!!!

Michael here. TheFilmStage has this featurette with TONS of jaw-dropping new Avatar footage.

And download a better quality version of Trailer 2 here:

http://www.zshare.net/video/67615810638704bd

AND TrailerAddict! http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/avatar/international-trailer - Thanks Karl!

Today has been a great day for Avatar fans, hasn't it?

AVATAR Trailer Smashes Apple.com Record!

Michael here. Wow. Avatar is a monster. By the time December 18 rolls around, the entire world will be salivating for it. I expect this is the first of many records that Avatar will leave in the dust.

From Fox's Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AVATAR TEASER TRAILER MAKES HISTORY, BECOMING THE MOST-VIEWED TRAILER EVER ON APPLE.COM

MUCH-ANTICIPATED FIRST-LOOK AT THE EPIC ADVENTURE FROM
“TITANIC” DIRECTOR JAMES CAMERON NETS OVER 4 MILLION STREAMS, SHATTERING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.7 MILLION

LOS ANGELES, (Friday, August 21st, 2009) – Twentieth Century Fox announced today that the AVATAR teaser trailer has become the most-viewed trailer ever on the popular iTunes Movies Trailer section of apple.com, which Thursday hosted the long-awaited public first look at writer-director James Cameron’s motion picture epic. The teaser registered over four million streams in its first day on the site, shattering the previous record of 1.7 million.

The amount of interest in James Cameron's return to cinema is insane, and I think the strategy of keeping it under wraps paid off in a huge way for Fox. And when millions more people see this trailer (or future Avatar trailers) in 3D in front of forthcoming 3D movies such as The Final Destination and A Christmas Carol, the anticipation levels will be unprecedented. These are truly exciting times - less than 4 months to go!

AVATAR Trailer is HERE!

Jim here early on AVATAR Day: UPDATE to Michael's post - STUNNING Trailer! I can feel movie poster and Blu-ray quotes coming on: "AVATAR is this generation's STAR WARS. A movie you will not see but experience. Brace yourself, storytelling will never be the same again."

Getting ahead of myself, but what the heck - everything I have seen to date points to me saying that after a full screening. In fact I will go on record now as saying them. I am THAT confident.

The trailer is amazing and wonderfully cut. It's a symphony really. I wonder if Mozart felt this way after composing a piece he knew would be resoundingly embraced and then playing only a few teasing bars for fans. Sure he would be nervous but at the same time absolutely thrilled to finally see the public's faces light up with emotion and wonder.

Again I will go back to Jake looking at his AVATAR for the first time as being the most moving point in what I have seen so far - a moment not unlike a parent seeing their child for the first time in a delivery room. The smile says it all.

Throughout the trailer I was imagining the 3D and how it would be fulfilled and I have to say the potential is enormous! But of course it is - look who directed it with stereo fully in mind. I made the right decision not posting that Comic-Con clip and I can boil it down to one scene - when Jake sits up on his gurney and looks at his feet. The focus is pristine and undistorted - the exact opposite of the bootleg clip. It is a pivotal scene as well - again Jake's emotions shining, this time through his avatar as he finally feels motion in his feet and comprehends the power that he now controls. AWESOME stuff.

Make no mistake though, the way to see AVATAR is in 3D. Those with AVATAR Day tickets are in for a special and unprecedented treat.

Michael here. UPDATE: My initial reaction: I love this trailer. The imagery is spectacular, and it ends on a perfect note. And there's a bunch of stuff that hints at the sheer scale and epicness of the final battle. But the extended scenes from Comic-Con hyped me more, especially since in those we get to see the awesome chemistry between the characters, some of the already-classic dialogue, the *perfect* performance capture in the extended scenes between Jake and Ney'tiri, and the magical, jaw-dropping run through the nighttime Pandoran jungle.

James Cameron has created a movie that, from the extended scenes I have watched, looks to be filled with those applause-worthy and emotionally affecting scenes that he is famous for.

This trailer is packed with amazing moments (my jaw dropped when Jake's avatar bares his teeth to the Banshee, when the ship drops through the clouds, and when the gunship lands in the jungle, among many other outstanding shots), but leaves out much of the best stuff from Comic-Con. As a series of shots with only one line of dialogue, it serves as a great tease, and as a teaser trailer it succeeds beautifully in providing an introduction to the world of Pandora and giving a glimpse at the story, characters, and action. But I think you would need a more dialogue heavy trailer with some longer scene portions for maximum emotional effect, and I see that coming with Trailer #2. As for the CG, the Avatar Day footage will be a better platform for showing off the 100% translation of the incredible nuances of detail of the actors' performances. I forgot that these characters were 0's and 1's after the first few seconds, simply because I connected to them. Cameron hooked me emotionally, and I was along for the ride.

I think the general public needs to see that at its heart Avatar is a classic, archetypical tale- a hero's quest, a love story. I'm hoping Fox releases a complete scene online. Cameron is a master storyteller, and I guarantee that what I saw in Hall H was as great as anything he has ever done in regards to creating feelings in an audience by drawing them into characters and story.

Still, this trailer gives me goosebumps, especially in the context of what I have already seen at Comic-Con. And this begs to be seen in 3D.

UPDATE: Direct download Apple.com links to HD English versions!

480P: http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_h480p.mov

720P: http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_h720p.mov

1080P: http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_h1080p.mov

Michael here.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/

Loading now. Watch and comment below.

This is history in the making.

A few of my favorite shots from the trailer(720P):

Avatar Trailer Online Debut 7 am Thursday PST - Confirmed by Fox!

Michael here. It's now official - Fox has confirmed to me that the Avatar trailer will debut worldwide at the same exact moment (theory of relativity aside): 7:00 am PDT Thursday on Apple.com/trailers.

The official countdown image says it will be "coming to iTunes movie trailers". I'm unfamiliar with the format(s) iTunes uses for trailers, but I am hoping that Apple delivers the trailer in their usual 480P, 720P, and 1080P gorgeous, frame-by-frame capable Quicktime format.

So there is no confusion left. Apple has fixed the countdown clock so that it counts down to the same time regardless of where you are located. So if you live in Hawaii, the trailer will be online at 4:00 am Thursday morning. If you live in New York, it will be 10:00 am EDT. If you live in London, it will be 3:00 pm BST. If you are in Wellington, it will be up at 2:00 am Friday morning.

I've heard some people who are attending the Avatar Day screening say that they will be avoiding the trailer to get a fresher experience. And, of course, there is the possibility it will be leaked early by a projectionist somewhere. I'm hoping that doesn't happen.

What about you? Will you watch a bootleg if one pops up? If you are going to Avatar Day, will you watch the trailer first?

I personally can't wait to see the trailer in the cinema, in front of, perhaps, a repeat viewing of the amazing District 9, or my first viewing of Inglourious Basterds. I'm betting there will be stunned silence in the audience akin to what I experienced when The Phantom Menace, Independence Day, and LOTR trailers blew everyone to the back of the theater.

Can you believe that after well over a decade of anticipation, the world is about to get its first glimpse of James Cameron's next movie? It still seems surreal to me.

Avatar: Na'vi description, Trailer Update and More

Michael here. People have been requesting a bit more detail regarding the look of the Na'vi and avatar characters. The same source who gave us that awesome reaction to the footage tells us about them below. He also gives the latest on the trailer from Cameron and provides some nice pictures and anecdotes from the festivities:

hey man,

Expo's over so finally have some time to give you a more detailed N'avi description.

The previous art is nothing like what the movie's N'avi ended up like. No blue lines, no floating (as far as I've seen).
The best description is luminescent (living) Blue tall people with a lot of Lion influences in the face.
They're about 10ft tall, so think more like double/triple the size of humans.
They all seem to have long hair in a braid and a tail best described as Lionesque (to connect to the Banshees or whatever they're called)
Their eyes are a lot bigger than human eyes, and bright yellow. It's also one of the features that most draws you into believing this world.
I saw the 'A Christmas Carol' footage and although it's an advancement from Beowulf, it's not an evolution from it because the muscles around the eyes and eyelids are still dead. They don't move, and really push the reality of it being mocap instead of people.
That just doesn't live. It's still very much a fantasy world created as a story device/enhancement. Avatar is more about the world where the story happens to take place. If that makes sense.

The clothing is very basic/tribal, so just cloths and belts.
Neytiri wore a beaded headband with beads down her forehand, reminding me a bit of indian/mayan headwear. Jake had a rifle gun, Na'vi sized which he parades around a lot in the first scenes described. Norm has a bag with him (probables with vials to take samples)

I was also asked about the glasses we wore during the presentation. I have them right here, they're the standard RealD 3D non colored glasses they use for cinema screenings around the world. I didn't find them taking anything away off the experience, it's just something you completely forget because you're so immersed in discovering the world displayed on screen.
We saw Ice Age 3D that morning with different glasses which used the 'old' red/green technology and those for me were a lot more disturbing.

Michael's note: The following material - from his experience at the after party - was included in the source's original email, but he just gave me the go-ahead to post it:

Cameron's wife says what I feel the best. "I took friends to the sets, they signed waivers and stuff. But really, when you would TRY to explain what you saw, you can't. It wont do justice to whatever you experienced or what they will when they see it." This movie is made of stuff we didn't think would happen for 10 years. This movie makes it possible.

Afterparty was amazing, talking with Cameron for about 10/15 minutes was just mindblowing. He is so proud of this movie and still handles it with great suave like he just folded a paper plane. I asked how long the movie is right now. He answered with, "I don't want too say how long. That implies it's TOO long. Epic is more of the right word."
He really shined when he told us how Steven Spielberg and Peter jackson are now working on TinTin with this and how he gave them to the studio for a week to 'play with it'. I am just mindbaffled how a genius like that can contain himself with something like this.

He told me he has a trailer, but isn't done with it. He wants it to showcase what the world is like, rather than impress with 3D because in his opinion most people will watch the trailer online.

He told me nobody had seen this stuff outside of production (even most of the studio flew down, I heard) and that he was truly happy to share this. When he saw the backdrop of the stage of the party with the artwork, he gasped and said "Whoa". When I joked he could take it home he said, "I wish, I just dont have walls big enough for it! ;) "
It was historic, and talking to the man afterwards was a true pleasure. Also Sam Worthington was flown in by private jet from the Clash of the Titans set so didn't attend the afterparty. Talking to Zoe Saldana at the party was cool too. She said during the presentation she wanted to create, "a fearless memorable action heroine" and when I told her she already did with Uhura, she actually became shy. Not hollywood shy, but very down to earth and said: "That makes me incredibly humble. I really want to thank you for saying that!". Then the convo turned to Amsterdam (i'm born and raised here) and she just seems so down to earth.

Seeing this today together with the real costumes, on-set footage and props from Burton's Alice in Wonderland made this such a day to remember.

The source also sent the following regarding the trailer:

Hey man,

Just heard from my contact that the cut of that trailer isn't final. It's what Cameron has now to give FOX an idea of the direction he wants to take the trailer. It was shown to fox execs at the Expo this morning. It'll be heavily tweaked and won't be expected until mid/end august to be shown online/cinema's etc.

I can tell you we saw 2 full scenes from A Christmas Carol that are 85% finished and everyone afterwards gushed on how Avatar is so completely beyond that mo-cap.

Thanks to "Sledgehammer" for the great reporting and after party pics!

Avatar Team Hiring + More Trailer Updates

Michael here.  Any VFX industry readers who would like to contribute to the most bleeding-edge film project ever may be interested in this job notice, posted yesterday on the 2-Pop forums.  

It makes sense that they are still hiring.  With a project like Avatar, work will continue on tweaking the incredible world Cameron has created until he gets every character, creature, alien tree, cloud, and blade of grass photoreal and animated like you are standing there underneath Pandora's twin suns.

This is why we haven't yet seen a trailer or still from the film.  Cameron wants every shot that is seen in a potential trailer to be absolutely, 100% representative of the final product.  So when will we see the trailer?

According to a Fox representative I spoke to today, "no trailer placement is confirmed at this time" and "we are nowhere near to having a final one."  The rep also told us that "nothing is 100%" as to when we will get our first look at the film, although she did state that Comic-Con is still the most likely place for our first looks.  Whether she was only referring to our first looks at a trailer or footage, or first looks at a poster or other marketing material wasn't made clear.  I still think there's a good shot that we will see a poster well before the trailer, especially given what Fox Co-Chairman Jim Gianopulos told me at ShoWest.

This does not rule out Transformers 2 (and a 3D version in front of Ice Age 3 a week later) being the place we will see the first trailer, or the place where Fox would ideally like to debut it.  Fox itself just doesn't know for sure yet - it all depends on when Cameron gets the shots he wants up to his standards.  Multiple trustworthy sources (not the source of the fake trailer canister, by the way) have said that at one point at least - and maybe currently - the plan was for Transformers 2.  Whether or not Fox makes that date is still up in the air.

Multiple people at Fox (including Gianopulos) and others elsewhere in the production have reiterated the unprecedented effort and time that this type of world building requires.  So they are still in the thick of things as far as finishing the movie goes, and will be right up to December.

Here is the job listing:

Pandora Films (LLC) is seeking an Assistant Production Coordinators for work in the Virtual Lab and VFX Departments on James Cameron’s Avatar

Description:

Our project makes heavy use of motion capture as a means to creating performances and creatures for an immersive, 3D theatrical feature. We are looking for self-motivated, experienced VFX asst. coordinators for our VFX production crew in assisting the production team realize the strong creative vision of our director.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

You will be interfacing directly with the VFX vendors, managing information interchange between them and the VFX production, Editorial and IT departments. Duties include: note-taking during Director reviews, scheduling and coordinating review and meeting times, ensuring timely and complete delivery of needed work elements and assets to various VFX vendors, tracking shot and sequence progress through the vendors’ facilities, and a demonstrated aptitude for professional and accurate reporting.

Minimum Qualifications and Abilities:

Though not required, a four-year degree from an accredited college or university is preferred. Previous experience in the feature film or visual effects industry is required. Candidate will need to have demonstrated ability to interact well with VFX vendors, in-house departments and production staff, be detail-oriented and proactive, organize production information, take direction well and be willing to learn about cutting-edge technologies and pipeline processes.Previous facility-side experience and/or a high degree of familiarity with contemporary digital work process and pipelines are a huge plus.

Please submit resume to:

avatarhiring@lightstormla.com