MUST WATCH: New Trailer For ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

Hey guys - here's trailer #3 for ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL and it looks stunning! I won't spoil it for you, but be sure to watch it on a big screen with the volume up :-)

I'm first in line for this thing! It's been a long time coming and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's the movie's storyline:
From visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY), comes ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Screenplay by: James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis and Robert Rodriguez
Based on the Graphic Novel ("Manga") Series: "Gunnm" By Yukito Kishiro
Produced by: James Cameron and Jon Landau
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson

Connect with Alita: Battle Angel Online:
Visit the Official Site Here: AlitaTickets.co.uk
Like Alita: Battle Angel on FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AlitaMovieUK

Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/20centuryfoxuk
Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/20CenturyFoxUK
Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/20thCenturyFoxUK/

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL launches on February 14, 2019.

James Cameron Selects Robert Rodriguez To Helm BATTLE ANGEL!

I'm actually happy about this move. Don't get me wrong, there is no one I'd rather see direct BATTLE ANGEL than Cameron, but the Rodriguez choice is a little out of left field and edgy. I LIKE IT. Rodriguez has proven he can work with cutting edge tech and 3D (SIN CITY) and besides that, I just really like his approach to filmmaking. EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO were inspired works of art to me.

Rodriguez will have significant help though without a doubt through Cameron and Jon Landau who will both produce. BATTLE ANGEL is a Lightstorm Entertainment property and Laeta Kalogridis contributed to it's adaptation from the manga graphic novels.

I remember one of the discussions I had with Cameron on BATTLE ANGEL right here. He wasn't sure back in 2009 that he'd do it either.

Today's quotes though finally put an end to the long road for the production:

Says Cameron: "Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do Battle Angel. He's very collaborative and we're already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. This project is near and dear to me, and there's nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We're looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic."

Rodriguez follows: "Battle Angel is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron's spectacular, character-driven films. Getting to work from Jim’s terrific and visionary script while learning the cutting edge techniques he’s pioneered is a master class in filmmaking. It's an honor to explore the world of Alita along with Jim and Jon, whose films have impacted me for decades."

I can't imagine this project being shot in any other way than native and digital 3D, so I'm am doubly thrilled to finally see some action take place here. As you may know we've been following BATTLE ANGEL developments for years. Looking forward to more news from the Lightstorm camp on this!

Source: THR

FULL EVENT VIDEO - BATTLE ANGEL Will Be Cameron's Next Project After AVATAR 2 And 3

Director James Cameron dropshipped into the TagDF tech forum in Mexico City this past Wednesday and everything was definitely five by five.

Probably the biggest single piece of news out of the event is that he is going to be focusing on BATTLE ANGEL after the two AVATAR sequels! This is huge news as many of his projects have been sliding from the back burner to the shelves over and over. He says that he will start to develop BA in 2017 once he is done with the Na'vi.

And speaking of Na'vi, Cameron says that he will be honing in on story and characters more so than new technology this time around. This guy knows just what to say doesn't he? Definitely.

Additionally, he was speaking with GRAVITY director Alfonso Cuarón at the conference (see the video below) on stage. Apparently Cameron helped out Cuarón and his movie, giving him advice when needed. I am so looking forward to that movie.

Cameron also expounded on 3D and what is happening in today's market. Again he emphasized the merits of native 3D vs. conversion (something I am steadfastly in agreement with) and that today's directors are having 3D forced upon them, even those who are not comfortable or don't like 3D. He accurately stated that 3D is moving away from directors and into the hands of the studios.

Further he said that MAN OF STEEL and IRON MAN 3 "should not necessarily be in 3D. If you spend $150 million on visual effects, the film is already going to [look] spectacular [and] perfect."

Here's the event - the first part of the video is in Spanish, but it soon switched to English when Cameron gets involved, but with Spanish translation:





Here's an English only segment:




Via The Film Stage | YouTube

James Cameron: AVATAR 4 Will Be A Prequel - Jon Landau: BATTLE ANGEL Still Coming!

Some HUGE news out of the Lightstorm Entertainment camp today from it's two biggest players: Director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau.

First let's hear from Cameron as he lets us know that AVATAR 4 will actually be a prequel rather than following on the tails of AVATAR 3!

Here's Cameron's rationale: "Because when we drop in, even in the first film in AVATAR 1, as it will be known in the future, we’re dropping into a process that’s 35 years into a whole colonization. That will complete an arc and if that leads into more, we’ll start - not imitating STAR WARS, but it’s a logical thing to do because we’ll have completed the thematic arc by the end of (AVATAR 3). The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It’s a plan."

"I have an idea for a fourth. I haven’t really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na’vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world."

"We’ve spent two years refining the whole pipeline. It was a hideously complex process to make that film and a lot has been said about that, but we don’t want it to be done in the same prototypical way as the first one, we want it to be a much smoother workflow just for creativity reasons."

And an obvious elbow to the ribs of Peter Jackson with this quote:
"You know, Peter Jackson had it easy, he already had the books. He had the books. Now if I had a time machine I could go forward and watch the movies and then come back, but I don’t!"

Simply love that there is a plan coming together at long last for these movies and it definitely seems to hold water why he is doing it.

Now here's what Jon Landau had to say about BATTLE ANGEL:

"I am sure you will get to see BATTLE ANGEL. It is one of my favorite stories, a great story about a young woman’s journey to self-discovery. It is a film that begs the question: 'What does it mean to be human? Are you human if you have a heart, a brain or a soul?'  I look forward to giving the audience the film.

Who we want to put in the lead role today and who we want to put in the lead role when the time comes, it can be two totally different people who would be right for the role. Now we focus on AVATAR for the next four or five years. It will hopefully be right after that."

YES!!! I am unbelievably happy that BATTLE ANGEL is moving forward after AVATAR 2, 3 and 4. For all of our BATTLE ANGEL coverage, click here. I believe it's time to start ramping up my embedded sources for these upcoming AVATAR movies - stay tuned!

Source: MovieZone via Collider

James Cameron Diving Into AVATAR 2, 3 And 4 Next, Other Projects Backburnered

Well some good news and some bad news. The good news is James Cameron is back from his dive and while there is a 3D documentary coming out about it, he is hard at work on AVATAR 2 and 3. He's been writing. And filling in where he wants to take us, but he has stepped back from world building for the moment. As you can imagine, building worlds is a tough business to be in. Think about it for a minute: Pandora's environment, flora and fauna, cultures, language, the physics of this new world - unobtainium, floating mountains, etc. Time consuming to say the least!


So will we see another alien race or planet / moon in AVATAR 2 or 3? Looks like the answer is... maybe. I've listened to how some of my readers have interpreted his message and it is feasible that he intends on growing the AVATAR universe to other moons, etc. Cameron has pulled the plug on his development arm though. Let's hope it is ONLY new development.

The bad news is it looks like BATTLE ANGEL may be far in the future. Cameron is now saying he is totally in the AVATAR business (which IS great news) and that there may even be an AVATAR 4 before anything else. So all of you BA fans will have to wait longer (myself included). I am actually ok with this. There is so much he can do with the AVATAR universe that his mind must be racing.

Add in the fact that Ridley Scott looks like he has a diamond soon to be released in PROMETHEUS, Cameron is going to want to answer that movie with resounding: "Ok Ridley, top THIS one!"

So let's get to the quotes:

Cameron on other filmmakers:
"I don’t find my inspiration in movies. I find my inspiration in life – in the natural world, in daily life. There are filmmakers that come along that are quite iconoclastic. And that I’m in awe of, frankly. Zack Snyder’s “300.” I think that was a really revolutionary film, because it was a completely deconstructive form of filmmaking in a way that nobody had done before, other than maybe Robert Rodriguez. That’s inspirational to me. Zhang Yimou’s films are inspirational to me. I have to see them multiple times to really see how he’s doing it and what exactly he’s doing that seems to work so well. So as a fan of film, there are certain films that come along that are just stunning to me, and I’ll study them."

"...You know, there’s the old guard. You know, Spielberg, Kubrick and all that sort of thing. But in terms of new filmmakers, up and coming, I haven’t seen anybody that blew me away in the last year or so."

Cameron on his next projects:
"I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the “Avatar” business. Period. That’s it. I’m making “Avatar 2,” “Avatar 3,” maybe “Avatar 4,” and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts. And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the “Avatar” landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing. I’ve done five documentaries in the last 10 years, and I’ll hopefully do a lot more. In fact, I’m doing one right now, which is on this, the Deep Sea Challenge project that we just completed the first expedition. So that’ll be a film that’ll get made this year and come out first quarter of next year."

"We’ve spent the last year and a half on software development and pipeline development. The virtual production methodology was extremely prototypical on the first film. As then, no one had ever done it before and we didn’t even know for two and half years into it and $100 million into it if it was going to work. So we just wanted to make our lives a whole lot easier so that we can spend a little more of our brainpower on creativity. It was a very, very uphill battle on the first film. So we’ve been mostly working on the tool set, the production pipeline, setting up the new stages in Los Angeles, setting up the new visual effects pipeline in New Zealand, that sort of thing. And, by the way, writing. We haven’t gotten to the design stage yet. That’ll be the next."

"It’s conceivable (on working in China for the AVATAR sequels). You know, one of the things I want to explore while I’m here is the idea of co-production on those films, but it’s a slightly different case because they’re studio films. There were zero… I can’t say zero exteriors. We did one night in the parking lot next to the sound stage. But there were no locations."

I'll have more when I get it, and when I hear back from my sources. Once work ramps up on the AVATAR sequels we'll have some cool updates guaranteed! :-)

Source: NYTimes

James Cameron Update: AVATAR 2, BATTLE ANGEL, His Top Five Movies And A New Award!

Guys, it's time for a James Cameron update as he has been doing press junkets for his newly minted production SANCTUM.

First off, Cameron has given (via WSJ) some brief tidbits on AVATAR 2 and in particular how to improve the 3D viewing experience:

Says Cameron: “For ‘Avatar 2,’ what I’m most interested in is getting theaters to up their light level,” Cameron told Speakeasy in an interview Saturday in Los Angeles, Calif. “And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems.”

“‘Sanctum’ was a cookie-cutter of the camera technology we used on [‘Avatar’],” Cameron explained. “It literally was, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, use it. But it will be in all of these different environments, water and all of that, where specific problems have to be solved that are external to the camera.”

“People talk about feeling sick or something like that, and I think it’s because the image is strobing,” Cameron observed. “That’s a function of the 24 frame frame rate, which has actually got nothing to do with 3D. It’s just made more apparent because the 3D is otherwise such an enhanced, realistic image, that all of a sudden you’re aware of this funky strobing which you weren’t aware of.”

Yes! Higher frame rates is the next holy grail to achieve in the AVATAR batting lineup and it will help S3D in many ways. While light levels for AVATAR were fine in my estimation, it is just like Cameron to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

MarketSaw is and shall be the top source for AVATAR universe updates before anyone else gets them - stay tuned!!

--

Secondly, Collider spoke with Cameron specifically about his upcoming project BATTLE ANGEL. The problem being he has a couple of small art house films he is shooting back-to-back called AVATAR 2 and 3! So poor BATTLE ANGEL has been back-burnered.

Says Cameron: "I’m obviously going to be pretty busy for the next five years [with Avatar 2 and 3]. And so I had to consider, do I hand this project off to another director? And then I thought, ‘No, I love it too much.’ …It’s such a rich world. What I’m going to do is take the spine story and use elements from the first four books. So, the Motorball from books three and four, and parts of the story of one and two will all be in the movie."

BATTLE ANGEL is one of those movies you KNOW is going to be a massive, MASSIVE hit. Cameron has all the tools required to drive this one home and I will be following developments in this story VERY closely. You should know that I regularly inquire with my sources about anything to do with this film.

Follow all of our BATTLE ANGEL updates right here.

--
Thirdly, Cameron serves up his top five movies of all time (Via RT)! They are as follows in no particular order:

- THE WIZARD OF OZ
- DR. STRANGELOVE
- 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
- THE GODFATHER
- TAXI DRIVER

No real surprises and all of them make my top ten list. I am definitely with him on TAXI DRIVER. No question!

--
Finally, Cameron is set to receive the International 3D Society's first Harold Lloyd Award for 3D achievement!

Says Suzanne Lloyd, who is 3D pioneer Harold Lloyd's granddaughter and chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment: "James Cameron has embodied Harold Lloyd's vision and passion for dazzling audiences across the globe. With Avatar and his commitment to 3D storytelling, it is appropriate that he is the first recipient of this most prestigious annual award."

Note: I am not quite sure if the award will look like the one pictured as this is a Lumiere Award from the same society.

This award makes perfect sense for Cameron to pick up and truly kicks off this inaugural award year in grand fashion! Congratulations Jim!

Oh and if you haven't already - add James Cameron for direct Twitter updates from the man himself! His new verified account is @JimCameron (@JamesCameron was already taken, by a pro blogger no less!).

That's it for now - will have more soon...

Alita: Battle Angel Will Include Motorball!

Michael here. MTV has been on quite a roll with their news on James Cameron's adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita. First they had Jon Landau revealing that "Alita" would follow Avatar 2, and that he would like to title it Alita: Battle Angel. Now Landau confirms talk from long ago that the movie will include the sport of Motorball:

From MTV:

“We’re trying to pick what is the best story to tell,” explained Landau, who has served as Cameron’s producer on both “Avatar” and “Titanic."

“It’s sort of like when you do a biopic; you can’t really do a biopic that goes from cradle to grave," he said. "You have to pick out what is the important section in that person’s life, to tell that story.”

And in their “biopic” on the rescued robotic warrior Alita, Cameron and Landau plan to focus on the earlier part of her life.

“I think we’ll tend to err on the earlier side, because it is the more fascinating side where Alita’s lost her memory and she doesn’t know where she comes from,” he explained. “And it’s when she discovers where she comes from, she’s terrified of it and doesn’t believe that that’s who she really is.”

Landau is also partial to that period in Alita’s life because it will give him the chance to see his favorite element on the big-screen.

“If people are familiar with the series at all, there’s something they call Motorball,” Landau said of the one aspect of “Alita” that he’s most eager to see Cameron capture. “That is something that Jim has always been dynamically excited about. It’s racing on a super track, with characters that are built and created in the cyborg world to race against each other in an arena.”

“It’s almost like a gladiator match meets an Indy 500 race,” Landau added. “[Their mode of battle] depends on who they are. It depends how they’ve been modified as cyborgs; they’re not in cars — it’s their physical being that is out there. Some of them are on roller skates — and Alita participates in this, and she’s on roller blades, while other people might have different devices. It’s a wonderful, rich world to design and develop.”

Landau's comments jive with pre-Avatar quotes from Cameron that said that "Alita" would pull the Motorball story forward into the Alita, Hugo, and Ido story. Sounds like they are sticking to their plans. The Motorball arc of the original Battle Angel series has the most completely insane action imaginable, and seeing it given the big budget S3D treatment will be amazing.

"Battle Angel" Retitled, and Coming After Avatar 2?

Michael here. This is interesting. I had the same thought myself regarding the T and A titles, and how Cameron might have to change the name to "Alita" to fit the pattern. Well, it looks like Jon Landau is thinking along similar lines, suggesting that the film be called Alita: Battle Angel.

From MTV: (thanks m4st4 for the heads up!)

“I’m telling people that we have to call it ‘Alita: Battle Angel,’ because Jim only does T&A movies,” grinned Landau, listing the examples. “’Titanic,’ ‘Aliens,’ ‘Terminator,’ ‘Abyss,’ ‘True Lies,’ ‘Avatar.’”

“So, we can’t call it ‘Battle Angel’,” he insisted. “We have to call it ‘Alita: Battle Angel.’”

And it seems that Alita: Battle Angel may go right after Avatar 2:

[‘Battle Angel’] is something that Jim is very, very passionate about. It was actually brought to our attention by another filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro; Guillermo saw those things in the property that he thought would really relate to Jim, and Jim responded to it immediately.”

Although Landau was quick to point out that Cameron plans to shoot an “Avatar” sequel first, he re-affirmed the filmmaker’s intentions to adapt Yukito Kishiro’s manga classic after that.

Sounds good to me! I'm a ravenous fan of the Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm in Japan) graphic novels, and I hope Cameron makes a stunning series of films out of them as soon as he can.

Read Landau's comments on their plans for Alita: Battle Angel below to get even more excited:

“We really wanted to take our time in developing a large arc-ing story that really encompasses the whole world,” remembered Landau. “We were very close to doing that movie before we did ‘Avatar,’ and I think you’ll see that resurface. That’s a story in our minds about: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to fall in love? Are you human if you have a heart? Are you human if you have a mind? Or are you human if you just have a body? It’s a journey of self-discovery for a young girl.”

From everything Cameron and Landau have said, it is clear they understand what makes Battle Angel Alita so great. I absolutely can't wait to see the world and characters come to life on screen!

EXCLUSIVE: James Cameron Interview! Talks AVATAR, BATTLE ANGEL, THE DIVE And More!!

Jim here. I had the great pleasure to speak with James Cameron today! I can hear in his voice that he is so pleased to have AVATAR delivered to the fans - and he let us in on a few news items too...

We have been waiting a long time for this movie and the light is at the end of the tunnel. Stereoscopic 3D will never be the same again. Hollywood will never be the same again!

Cameron is a class act. Can you believe I haven't see it yet? He couldn't believe it either, but I do not live in a major center so... I will be seeing it with you guys at the midnight showing on the 17th :-) Michael gets the goods this time around!

Lets go through the interview and I will give you a brief explanation at various points:



1:15 Cameron had only seen AVATAR end to end in 3D at a screening just before this press tour! He had some questions in his mind: Did it even work? Eyestrain? :-)

5:35 Performance Capture - some directors treat it as a stage play, which does not work for him. Cameron worked out coverage blocks at the moment of shooting - master, etc. He figured out angles later. Up to 12 HD cameras for reference. Wide shots for placement and editing.

10:00 When Cameron gave Weta the edited template (his cameras cut together with stereo space) - the stereo space numbers never changed! (the numbers that make up where convergence is, etc). Weta used them exactly - "...that's what really saved us" - they had a 1000 shots come in the door in the last 2 or 3 months of post. There was absolutely no time to re-render all that for stereo. All the stereo was worked out a year earlier! "Worked flawlessly".
I find this amazing! Cameron has pulled off a shrewd trick here saving time and money by thinking ahead.

10:35 Cameron addresses why some directors are hesitant to jump into 3D and why they can and should. He talks about the culture of 3D and getting the right S3D people to surround you on a project. Cameron's crew was able to take the stylistic cues from the first half of AVATAR's templates and simply apply them to the second half - makes it much easier on him who then just does stereo reviews and signs off on them - or with minor tweaks.

12:45 The critical thing with AVATAR was to make sure the live action was going to cut well (as opposed to the CG). Just thinking in 3D - you can change the stereo space in CG at any time, but you can't change it once you have shot it with a S3D camera rig. The trick is to make sure "anything will cut with anything" - and he means anything and anywhere in ANY shot.

13:50 Cameron throws out all the stereo rules that have ever been used! He came up with a whole new "stereo aesthetic" for AVATAR: "You put the convergence where you are looking. Period". This is an entirely new way of shooting 3D and it enables effective cutting. What it does NOT do is put the convergence at the screen plane where objects come flying out at you. That, is "bullshit".

15:10 Cameron avoids discussing whether AVATAR 2 and 3 takes place on or off Pandora. :-)

15:40 Sam Worthington is signed up for sequels "by his excitement; he wants to do another one". Zoe Saldana wants to do another one too. Cameron realizes option deals are subject to many conditions.

16:20 On BATTLE ANGEL: "I am not even sure that I am going to do that film". And he has no one in mind for casting.
Oh well - that is disappointing news. However maybe it is because AVATAR 2 and 3 are heating up big time now! :-)

16:50 On THE DIVE: "As a next film, THE DIVE is a more likely candidate". He doesn't want to do another 4 year movie right away and this drama is more immediate.
Can't wait this project! Huge potential here.

17:00 On SANCTUM AND FANTASTIC VOYAGE and anything else he wants to produce: "I am kinda out of the producing business. I don't like that - it is just not satisfying enough." SANCTUM is being done to illustrate the power of 3D in a modestly budgeted drama. Only 10% of SANCTUM will be underwater with much of it in caves and it is a survival drama.
Looking forward to this!

18:00 Cameron is still co-investigator on the MARS ROVER mastcam and will become more active on that after AVATAR. Also, his work on that doesn't really start in earnest until it is on the surface of Mars and sending back imagery.
This last one (amongst others) was Michael's and we both share an intense interest in astronomy!

Special thanks to Jim Cameron and Fox for setting this up. Looking forward to more! :-) I wish I had more time for this call. I was supposed to keep it to 15 minutes but as you can see 18 minutes came and went like it was nothing. I had many more questions for him but I think I hit the more pressing ones for us :-)

James Cameron's BATTLE ANGEL Update: A 14 Year Old ANGEL OF DEATH!! Tests Continue!!

Jim here. Got some news from one of my top sources in the Cameron camp and man oh man does BATTLE ANGEL ever sound Kick. Ass.

On what is happening right now for ANGEL:
Make no mistake this is the movie your website will be pursuing in time to come. The tests are "Beautiful" and "Complex" beyond your wildest dreams. Stunningly beautiful, considering the fact that some are old(ish). Imagine this for a second. A cyborg chick "the Angel of Death" taking out "a lot" of other part man, part machine type "people".

We do indeed plan on staying with Cameron believe us! AVATAR is the training ground for BATTLE ANGEL and I can't wait to see the ideas he has for it.

On what those tests contain:
Now picture the "Angel of Death" looking like a child. a 14 year old. Now imagine this, this little girl goes through these guys like butter. Did you see the KICK-ASS trailer? Well imagine that girl via the Matrix via Ghost in the shell, via AI. "Remember the True Lies bathroom brawl?" Well take out Arnold, and "copy and paste" Bruce Lee on acid via the Terminator. as seen through the eyes of a sweet innocent 14 year old cyborg girl. And all of this done via the mind of James Cameron, Holy shit what is not to love? The lights flicker and shit hits the fan. Awesome stuff.

With performance capture and CG anything is possible. That includes using an underage actor in very VERY violent scenes. This would be cutting edge stuff and who better to pull it off?

On Angel's future: You will be hearing the phrase "Angel of death" a lot in time to come. At least judging from the level of involvement now. I bet Angel will go green soon. The only thing I can see setting back Angel is Avatar. And you know why that is don't you.

ANGEL OF DEATH is a potential alternative title as it is what she is also known as. But I think BATTLE ANGEL will stick. AVATAR has potential sequels written all over it of course and that may be the next project for Cameron depending on studio and audience pressure after the massive response to AVATAR is felt. But you can count on BATTLE being made, big time.

Obviously casting for Angel is key. I am curious to know who you think would make a great Battle Angel? Choices are limited as the character is only 14 years old, but I have a few ideas. I had heard rumors that Cameron already has his Angel - but that was some time ago. Haven't heard anything since.

And we know from a MarketSaw exclusive interview with designer James Clyne that there is a VERY real possibility of BATTLE having some gladiatorial aspects of future sports and a wide social gap of the "have and have nots". And further that BATTLE ANGEL will have many different looks (new faces, bodies, and outfits) as she evolves in the movie. We learned from yet another MarketSaw exclusive interview with Mark Goerner that the movie follows and even amplifies Kishiro's original vision of BATTLE ANGEL.

Other stereoscopic 3D projects to watch that may closely resemble BATTLE ANGEL are APHRODITE IX and Spielberg's GHOST IN THE SHELL. All of them have young female cyborgs kicking some serious butt. Interesting how they line up after something that catches Cameron's eye.

I am thrilled to learn that Cameron is still doing tests for BATTLE. These tests are very, VERY secure - but we have the best sources on the planet so YOU get the updates! Stay here with MarketSaw for the latest and greatest on all things James Cameron AND 3D.

Second photo courtesy of Allison Rose. The model is Riki Le Cotey.

Avatar Podcast: Discussion of Footage, Avatar Day, and the Future of 3D!

Michael here. Yesterday I had a great discussion with our friend Maurice Mpayamaguru of Fanboy Confidential about all things Avatar and 3D. Maurice and I both saw the 24 minutes of footage at Comic-Con, but his reaction (although still extremely positive) wasn't quite as jubilant as mine.

We debate over how much of a game changer Avatar will be, the current status of the hype/buzz, the significance of Avatar Day, our opinions on Fox's marketing efforts so far, potential future Cameron projects (including Battle Angel), The Hobbit in 3D, and we predict where 3D and movie technology will be heading over the next few decades. And a whole lot more!

Listen to the Podcast below:



Direct download link

Also, just in case you don't already know, Apple.com/trailers has a countdown to the Avatar trailer. According to the clock, it will go online Thursday morning at 7:00 AM PST.

Cameron Still Wants to Do Battle Angel! Plus more from Cameron/Jackson Panel

Michael here with a report on the James Cameron / Peter Jackson panel. I'll be updating this post soon with videos and audio.

Here is our podcast of the entire panel:




Both the best news and funniest line of the night came when an audience member asked Cameron whether he was still interested in making Battle Angel Alita.

Cameron said that he really wants to do it, but that asking about his next project now is like asking a mother-to-be about her next baby while she's crowning.

Cameron talks Battle Angel:



Cameron also revealed that he hopes to include a feature on the Avatar Blu-Ray where you can see the actors' performances and those of their CG counterparts side by side so the audience will be able to see how perfect the facial capture has become, and how even the smallest details are replicated.

There was also a great discussion on the absolute importance of story and emotion in film that generated a huge audience applause.

More Videos-

Cameron on Filmmaking Tech in 20 Years (including higher frame rates):



Cameron on 3D Titanic, Jackson on Lord of the Rings 3D, and 3D Industry Discussion:



Also, head over to Movies Online, which has a transcript of yesterday's post-footage press conference with Cameron. It's a very good read.

Quick Post: Laeta Kalogridis (co-writer of Avatar, Battle Angel, The Dive) Profile

Michael here. It's long been known that Laeta Kalogridis has been working on Battle Angel and The Dive for James Cameron, and her work on the Avatar script has also recently come to light.  Kalogridis has been a very well-respected screenwriter, but until now it seems she hasn't had much luck getting her screenplays produced.  Well, that's about to change - Kalogridis' career is really heating up.  Later this year, along with a little movie called Avatar, she has Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island.  She is also working on the script for the action-comedy Witchita, which will star Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting profile of Kalogridis, including this quote about her collaboration with Cameron: "The whole reason I came out to Hollywood was the influence of [Cameron's] work, his transformation of how we think of action, and how we think of female heroes in action."

I can't wait to see what she does with Battle Angel, which has insane action along with a complex female protagonist.

Concept Designer James Clyne Talks "Avatar" & "Battle Angel"!!

Hi everyone, Michael here.  We are very proud to have the opportunity to talk to concept/production designer James Clyne about his experiences working on James Cameron's Avatar and Battle Angel!

Clyne's paintings are like an adrenaline kick to the imagination.  They invoke a sense of childlike wonder and limitless possibility and, well, awesomeness.  His portrayals of alien worlds, futuristic cityscapes, and fantastic characters are rendered at a level of detail and have a sense of scope that define the word "epic."  Indeed, Clyne's resume reads like a list of the biggest and most iconic imagery seen in the past decade of motion pictures: from the drowned ruins of an amusement park from Spielberg's AI to the Trojan Horse of Wolfgang Peterson's Troy to the vertical highways of Minority Report to enormous tripods laying fiery waste to the landscape to Megatron frozen in ice, Clyne's designs have become woven into the fabric of popular culture worldwide.

Given this history, Clyne's collaboration with James Cameron on Avatar and Battle Angel strikes me as one of the most exciting pairings of visionaries I can imagine.  I absolutely cannot wait to see the designs James has come up with for these movies.  One thing is for sure, however-whatever he has come up with is sure to kindle the imagination of the world and push the limits of movie imagery beyond our wildest dreams.

(note: the examples of Clyne's work interspersed throughout this article are unrelated to his work on the Cameron movies.  Click on them for bigger versions)

Michael: James Cameron is an artist himself. On either or both both of these projects (Avatar and Battle Angel), did he often come to you with designs already on paper? Does the fact that he draws and knows so much about technology lead to a more collaborative relationship between director and designer?

James Clyne: Surprisingly Jim didn't provide much feedback drawing wise as far as Avatar and Battle Angel were concerned. Most of Jim's feedback was verbal, along with the artists using the script as the templet for ideas. It's a shame too, one thing I found working on these projects was what a fantastic artist Jim is. I don't remember if it was Avatar or Battle, but one day Jim brought in a collection of his drawings from Aliens and the Abyss. So cool, and so humbling, man the guy can draw! What's so great about his designs, because they are so grounded in real science and engineering, they still hold up years after. Not many film designs (including my own) hold up over time.

Michael: What aspects of the Avatar and Battle Angel worlds were you called upon to create (landscapes / vistas, vehicles, characters, creatures, etc), or was your work spread amongst various aspects of the design of the films?

James Clyne: For Battle I was asked to focus in on the character design, primarily Alita herself. I'd say the first year was spent entirely on the mechanics behind her many incarnations. For Avatar, most of my work's emphasis was on everything "human". Obviously due to contractual agreements i've signed in blood, i can't release too much regarding specifics, but in Avatar I can say there is a large alien aspect to the world, but there is also a contingency of humans involved as well. Most of my job was to envision that world. Fun stuff, the engineering behind the world is very Jim.

Michael: How did you first come on board the Battle Angel project? At what stage of the Avatar project (which has been in serious development / production for almost five years) did you come on board?

James Clyne: Typically the way i'm hired is either by the Director, a Producer, or the Production Designer. In both cases I was hired by the Production Designer. I guess I didn't piss off too many people in Jim's camp to be asked back for Avatar.

Michael: Were you a fan of the Battle Angel manga series before working on the film? If you are a fan now, what aspect of the graphic novels appeals to you the most? How does either being a fan /not being a fan of the source material of a project (either before or after starting work) affect your approach to working on that project?

James Clyne: No, I really knew very little about Battle Angel before jumping on the project. I knew a bit of the artwork, but story wise I was very new to it. I kinda enjoy not knowing too much about the project before starting. Gives me a way to jump in fresh with the material. I guess that's why when I travel I tend to not read up on the country I'm traveling to. Makes the journey a bit more unexpected I guess. Once I was on the show, all the artists of course read through the many published books. There's some really great new ideas in technology and the future of society that i found compelling. For example, the gladiatorial aspect of future sports was a fun one. The wide social gap of the "have and have nots" in the story was intriguing as well.

Michael: What aspect of adapting Kishiro's designs and unique art style for the cinema screen proved the most challenging? The most rewarding?

James Clyne: Because my job was spent mostly developing Alita herself, I'd say the most challenging part was to find a way to successfully blend Kishiro's Anime style with a photo-real look. Jim certainly wanted to retain the look, the soul, of the book's illustrations, but also wanted to step up the visual landscape into something never seen before on film, which in a way, if you can pull it off, is also the most rewarding.

Michael: For me, one of the most fascinating and brilliant things about the Battle Angel graphic novels is how Alita's appearance seems to change along with her personality. As she grows up and accumulates life experiences, the new faces, bodies, and outfits she acquires are very much reflections of where she is in her psychological development. Cameron has spoken about this too. Did you design multiple "looks" for Alita in this fashion?

James Clyne: Without opening my mouth and firmly placing my foot in it, yes there were many "developmental incarnations" explored.

Michael: The Battle Angel Alita graphic novels are one of the best examples of the power of setting in a story. The industrial Scrapyard city, with the massive, oppressive and mysterious sky city hovering overhead, immediately draws the reader into the world by becoming a character in and of itself. The characters wouldn't be who they are if it weren't for the setting in which they are living and fighting. How much emphasis was placed on designing the backdrops /settings? Did you have any initial discussions regarding the overall aesthetic or mood you would aim for?

James Clyne: Yeah, Alita is only one of many characters in the story. Another one, which you describe, is the world in which she lives. Along with the Alita designs I worked on developing the look of the scrapyard city. Mark Goerner, who I believe you have also interviewed, spent much of his time on the environments. He was perfect for the job, he has such a proficient knowledge of scale, architecture, and technology and came up with such an amazing catalog of environments. I really wish you could see what we came up with.

Michael: Was there a consensus amongst the art team and director on which aspects of the original manga were the most vital to preserve in the film?

James Clyne: Yes there was, but we were also given freedom to expand the universe a bit. Unfortunately any specifics would get me in hot Cameron water.

Michael: How did the experience of working as a part of such a small art team on Battle Angel influence your creative process? I'd imagine that such a work environment would be conducive to a more free exchange of ideas amongst the artists. Was this the case? How did this compare to your experience working on Avatar?

James Clyne: Yeah, it definitely was the case. With such a small team on Battle, we had time to throw a lot of ideas around, along with shooting hoops on our indoor double basketball hoop. On Avatar it was much more akin to being an ensign on a battleship. We all had our specific daily duties, with captain JC at the helm.

Michael: Do you have any personal favorite pieces that you created from your time working on Avatar and Battle Angel? Any chance we might see some of your work in the recently announced "The Art of Avatar" book?

James Clyne: Nice try Michael, can't really go into too much detail regarding my favorites, sorry. As far as Avatar is concerned, I'm hoping you'll be seeing plenty of my designs in the "Art of" book!

Michael: Without giving away any spoilers, what is it that excites you the most about the Avatar and Battle Angel projects? What was your favorite thing about working on these projects?

James Clyne: I think the favorite thing about working on these projects was the fact that Jim was able to wrangle the best in the industry from the top down. From the concept artist to the Visual Effects supervisors everyone was total pro. It's seldom you have the chance to work in collaboration with such a high caliber level of artists and technicians at one time. For Avatar, I think all that hard work and talent won't be wasted on screen.

Michael: What can you tell us about what you are currently working on?

James Clyne: After Avatar I had the opportunity to work on the upcoming Star Trek film followed by Roland Emmerich's 2012. I'm currently production designing an in development Animated Feature.

A huge thank you to James for talking with us!

For more of James' work, visit www.jamesclyne.com

Head over to CG Channel for a great video interview with James and to CG Society for an in-depth profile

Check out James' professional concept design tutorial DVDs at The Gnomon Workshop, and art books showcasing his work here and here!

"Battle Angel" Has A Script Ready?

Jim here. According to SciFiScoop, BATTLE ANGEL's IMDB page has been updated with a status change from "Development Unknown" to "Script". Even if this is official (which with IMDb it certainly may NOT be), does it mean that we are closer to seeing this get made?

We know that Cameron has been working on BATTLE ANGEL here and there. So this little development seems to fall in line with current expectations that the heat is being turned up on this project and may be front-burnered. Certainly Cameron's 3D tech has been tweaked and optimized during thr shooting of AVATAR so the project should hit the ground running - whenever that is.

So what will happen with THE DIVE? One would assume that Cameron can and will swap projects from time to time as it was a toss up whether AVATAR would be made first over BATTLE ANGEL. Personally I would like to see BATTLE ANGEL done next, but I know that THE DIVE will be an extremely important movie in that Cameron can present a drama in 3D done CORRECTLY.

What project do you think Cameron should shoot next?

Major "Avatar" Set Piece Details - See Through the Eyes of an Alien!

**UPDATE: March 7 - Jim here, got a MASSIVE update to Michael's story from a MarketSaw reader by the name of Cremany from Germany. He is claiming to have seen a 3 minute clip sequence of Na'vi running through Pandora! He also says there are 2 more clips involved - check out his quotes from the comments section of this post:

ok... i asked a friend who was at CeBit with me and he saw the whole sequence of avatar (3 minutes)! It was 100% avatar, but it wasn't a promotion for the movie, it was a promotion for a company which works on the photorealistic enviroment in the movie. The company uses 3 clips from avatar to present the technology.

the clip is in a first-person viewpoint and shows a person running on a a root very fast, suddenly the root ends and the person jumps to another root and start running again. you can see big trees in the size of a skyscraper, it is a very dusty and dark.
a friend told me the second clip shows a convoy drivinig through a canyon and suddenly a few big rocks roll into the canyon and the third clip looks like the inside of a huge mushroom with a crystal in the middle.
the clips are really photorealistic but you can see it's computer animated... impressiv but not mind-melting. it's very hard for me to explain because i didn't give the clip a lot of attention...i didn't realize that this was from avatar.

it was only first-person, but in the second clip my friend saw a few na'vis.but when i saw the clip i didn't know it could be avatar before i read the topic here on this site. i wasn't sure, so i ask my friend and he knew more aboud it and he saw all 3 clips, too. he has also a few connections to the event-management, they confirmed the avatar clips as promotion for a company which works together with panasonic.

This could be the clip we have been waiting for guys! I know there were clips shown in Nuremberg, Germany at the Toy Fair so this makes a lot of sense. CeBit is in Hannover. Keep it here for more updates!

Hi everyone, Michael here. A few months ago, G@BRIEL GR@Y dropped into a discussion here on MarketSaw, where he described what he considered to be the standout visual effects set piece of Avatar: a 12 minute sequence seen through the eyes of Jake in Avatar form as, among other things, he runs through the Pandoran jungle. Now, I have heard from a completely different source, who I can confirm as legit, that there is indeed a first person set piece in the film.

First, here is what G@BRIEL GR@Y had to say a few months ago:

There is a twelve min segment entirely in the first person viewpoint. this as im sure you all could understand is a tricky thing, you`ve seen examples in doom. which look cool....but never felt real. for instance blinking blurring of vision. photoreal is now easy. animateing it to define real is very hard. this most definatly is the money shot of the biggest movie ever conceived.

G@BRIEL GR@Y also posted the following on ComingSoon.net (as reported by MarketSaw reader Darkoo):

I was told about a 12 min segment of avatar where its in the first person viewpoint.and they were having probs making the scene feel real because people blink and have blurred vision. and from what im told they have found a very interesting compromise.

Here is what my source, who spoke to someone who had seen parts of the sequence, had to say to me a couple days ago:

1) He said that 'when you are running through the jungle of Pandora and their tails are moving in front of your face, your brain will melt.'

2) I asked whether it a return to Tech-Noir form from JC and he said 'its like Aliens, but from the POV of the Aliens' :)

3) Big Rock Candy Mountain is supposed to be 'amazing.'

4) Slightly off topic, the BAA preprod at Lightstorm was 'very much in line with Kishiro's artwork.' Imagine that in 3D? /brain melts

So G@BRIEL GR@Y's report is almost certainly legit, which is very exciting. The concept of Avatar is very much about letting go of the confines of your body, and experiencing the world through a different set of eyes. I think this sequence will be an incredible way of driving this point home. And, yes, it will certainly be brain-meltingly cool. It will be fascinating to watch Battle Angel continue to develop, too. Mark Goerner's interview shed some fascinating light on the huge amount of work that has gone into that project so far. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

First Official AVATAR promo image - Worthington & Cameron on set!!

Michael here. This is awesome - Fox has begun their AVATAR publicity campaign with a first look at James Cameron and Sam Worthington (as Jake Sully) on the Avatar set in New Zealand!

The set looks to be an air/space craft, maybe a personnel transport or drop ship. Whatever it is, the detail and utilitarian design is great. It's also not entirely clear whether Worthington is in full costume, but from what I can see in this pic and from what I've seen of him in Terminator: Salvation, he's gonna nail this role.

And check out Cameron's Battle Angel t-shirt! Maybe we will be seeing Battle Angel sooner than we may think? As we know from speaking to concept artist Mark Goerner, a ton of design work has already been completed. I'm a rabid fan of the original 9 graphic novels, so of course I'm dying to see insane cyborg action in 48 frames-per-second 3D.

Here is the LA Times' very aptly-stated comment accompanying this photo:

"The buzz surrounding James Cameron's big-budget return to science fiction has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. The film, a mix of CGI and live action using new techniques Cameron himself helped to develop, was shot with a special 3-D camera (also developed by Cameron). Mix that with the promise of large-scale, hard science fiction that hasn't been attempted much in the past few years, and you have a project that seems guaranteed to live up to the hype and expectations that are riding on it. The only question (and fear) is what is to become of the cinema geeks overwhelmed by the images that Cameron and his effects crew are putting in front of them. For those with weaker constitutions, we fear the worst."

I couldn't agree more. This photo is an awesome holiday present for the fans. I can't wait to see what Cameron and Fox show us next!

source: latimes.com

Editor's (Jim) note: Wow! I am thrilled that we are starting to see official promo material - and is that ever a hint or what? BATTLE ANGEL? There are plenty of sites jumping on the FORBIDDEN PLANET bandwagon for his next project, but I am sticking with THE DIVE or BATTLE ANGEL right now! That definitely looks like a jump seat to me between JC and SW - looks like a drop ship to me! :-)