Amazing New 3D Covers For STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS From Empire

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Anticipation is still seeming to mount despite a near frenzied feeling already about the upcoming release of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. Helping to drive home this point is six new covers from Empire Magazine featuring characters from the movie. They apparently have 3D lenticulars - so definitely collectible.

The first set of three show off Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) of course followed by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). I'm loving the rich colors but clearly Ford was photoshopped as a younger Solo - intentional for the movie? Or cosmetic for the cover? You decide.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
Thirty years after defeating the Galactic Empire, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his allies face a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his army of Stormtroopers.

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In the next set of three we have Rey and BB-8 (Daisy Ridley), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Finn (John Boyega). Christie seems to be perfect casting for this role. She's 6'3" and I'm sure will take on all challengers! Great hero poses from the cast.

Have you pre-purchased your large screen format, 3D tickets yet? You can bet I have. Can't wait. This thing is going to be massive. AVATAR massive? No way. SWTFA might break 2 billion, but it won't catch AVATAR. If you think differently - let me know!

MAN OF STEEL's Cover Shot With Empire

You can expect much, much more hoopla around Zach Snyder's MAN OF STEEL in the coming months - clearly it's going to be a spectacle and is definitely on my most anticipated 3D movies for 2013.

Check the magazine cover that graces Henry Cavill as Supe himself. It'll be on shelves this Thursday.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.

MAN OF STEEL opens on June 14. What do you think? Can Cavill pull it off?

Source: Empire

New PROMETHEUS Scans From Upcoming Empire Magazine Issue

Can't miss these shots! Not only do we get some new scanned images from an upcoming edition of Empire Magazine, but we are also getting some inside story as well. Click on the images to enlarge and read!

Source: Prometheus News

Pandora's Box Opened - New AVATAR Stills! Sigourney And Zoe As Avatars!! SPOILERS!

**WARNING: SPOILERS!!**

Jim here. (Click to enlarge these!) One of my awesome readers from the UK - Matthew, sent me scans of the new Empire Magazine issue with AVATAR on the cover. As before I am showing you these images with the strong suggestion you buy the whole magazine to get the full story - but they certainly kick some butt.

First up is a closeup of Jake's avatar (Sam Worthington) with some tribal paint on - obviously after he leaves the lab after entering his host's body! :-) Notice the pores in his skin; the work in his eye's pupils - spectacular work. There are even little tiny baubles on his necklace. Amazing detail. In his second photo - look how his eyes are adjusting to the bright sunlight.

What does Worthington have to say about AVATAR? "I'll tell you what AVATAR is. It's a f*cking beast that is going to kick everybody in the head."

Next is Sigourney Weaver's avatar - notice any resemblance? Wow - stunning. Note that Grace's avatar is not as old here - Na'vi age much slower than humans in the story.

Certainly nailed that nose of hers! And bloodshot eyes. Amazing. I think that this really gives us a sense of the motion capture technology potential here for facial performances. Here we have an older Sigourney acting in an avatar's body while the performance is rendered with her younger face! Anything is possible as you can see - and will see in December.

Her human form gives that sense of credibility that every science fiction movie requires. If there was one woman who carries her own on an alien world, it is Ripley. Errr, Sigourney.

Zoe Saldana's avatar looks damn good here. Again they are nailing the hardest parts - eyes, mouth...

The second image of Neytiri surpasses even the first one! The headpiece she is wearing and the level of detail in her hair and face boggles the mind. Truly a work of art. You can't say this isn't photo realistic!

I went ahead and blew up the second image to give you a better feel of the intricacy. Simply astonishing. Keep in mind that these are magazine scans - not original photos, but obviously Matthew did a great capturing them. But you can expect even better results than these images once you see them in stereoscopic 3D and high definition digital. Or IMAX Film. It will be unlike anything before.

The level of accomplishment that has been achieved here is far from merely evolutionary - it is revolutionary in every sense. It is not just for AVATAR here guys; it is for all the future body of work for Weta too (and the other contributors) - AVATAR has brought us the future of cinema here. The same techniques and technology can be used on future projects and we are seeing the catalyst. It is not everyday this happens. It is a privilege to witness it happening! Our future movies to look forward to, just jumped up several notches.

What do you guys think of these shots? :-P Are you looking forward to the movie of the decade or what??

Lang's character looks like it is a winner. I can't say enough about the casting - superb job. Intense fellow isn't he? For good reason - Pandora's box is opened to be opened.

That is a nasty set of scars he has acquired. Any guesses as to whose claws made this close encounter? Looks like he hits the weights before his scenes as well - good job Mr. Lang!

Why haven't we heard more from Michelle Rodriguez? Normally she is front and center with promoting and dropping bombshells but she has been remarkably quiet during the past few months. She did let slip that her character dies - but we pretty much figured that out anyway. Nothing more to say there MR? :-)

We finally get a look at how she appears in AVATAR and it is your standard, pensive stare of a (doomed?) pilot - again perfect casting. I am a big fan of her work and she deserves to carry a movie soon - VERY soon. Will she become part of Cameron's future work? CALLED IT.

I am awestruck with what I am seeing here. It really is amazing. Can't wait for more to be revealed - and of course the finished product. I want to remind you to buy the full Empire Magazine to get all the details!

New AVATAR BTS Photo: Cameron Directing Worthington

Jim here. Got a great behind the scenes look at Cameron directing Worthington in what looks to be one of their transporter ships. Personally I love seeing these shots - I like seeing where scenes come from on a human creative level and this helps bring it home for me.

I would bet that this scene takes place immediately before Jake rolls out on Pandora for the first time in his wheelchair (as seen in the teaser trailer). If you have a look at what Jake is holding - it is his breathing mask that he wears when in the atmosphere of Pandora.

The photo is from Empire who will have more shots in the upcoming issues.

James Cameron's AVATAR Set Photo Scans!!!

Jim here. DAMN!! We are finally getting to see some AVATAR production stuff and I don't know how, but the fire burning for AVATAR just got stoked even hotter. At least we are getting to see something official and ultra cool... MANY thanks to one of my valuable UK readers for sending in these scans!!

Take a look at these scans from Empire Magazine for their recent edition - and be sure to pick up a copy too. These guys did a heckuva job getting these photos and getting a nice Cameron interview to boot. I am only posting some of the image scans I have as you really should pick up the magazine.

Here is some of what Cameron has to say and some filler in the Empire interview: "We've eliminated the animation from animation." With AVATAR's groundbreaking set-up, Cameron could observe the actors (left monitor) in a rough version of the final CG environment (right monitor).

Aside from an intricate, and very alien, ecosystem with predators large and small, Cameron's idea revolved around a race of indigenous sentient aliens called the Na'vi. Nine feet tall, blue skinned and feline in appearance, they would need to be entirely computer-animated yet interact seamlessly with the live action.

Cameron says: "With the capture technologies we developed, the actor can be any character they can imagine and the director can create any world, any time and any space."

And here is a great quote from Cameron on Spielberg and Jackson: "I invited them over while shooting AVATAR. I put the camera in their hands and they basically became two kids - on the inside every filmmaker is really just a complete geek. The amazing thing for me was just watching that seminal moment. They were running around the stage, working the camera, and that's the moment when they both kind of looked at each other in the eye and said, 'Let's make TINTIN.'"

Here we go! In order:
Pic 1: Cameron working the Fusion 3D Camera System
Pic 2: Cameron adjusting some controls on "The Volume" - he can see the actor in the green screen environment (with dozens of cameras surrounding him) and he can see what that very same actor looks like in a rough rendering of the CG environment in real time.
Pic 3: My source for the scans also took the time to photoshop the image from the right screen to correct for the angle!
Pic 4: Background shots of an actor dressed in military uniform and the super futuristic computer screens of AVATAR! These are highlighted in red boxes and then blown up below...
Pic 5: Military actor - seems VERY similar to my other exclusive image of what AVATAR's military personnel will look like.
Pic 6: The computer screens from AVATAR look like they curve around the user - awesome! Not unlike this cool screen (at the bottom of the post).
































































































Empire magazine also states that other than Spielberg and Jackson (who we already know are using Cameron's technology for shooting TINTIN right now), there are two others that have "signed up" and got "swept away" by the possibilities - Abrams and del Toro! SOOOO... one would naturally assume that Abrams' next STAR TREK could be 3D and *AHEM*, the two HOBBIT movies in 3D. Of course we at MarketSaw already knew that there was a strong chance of THE HOBBIT(s) being 3D didn't we? I couldn't hold back a smile guys...

So definitely something to talk about for awhile before the trailer comes out. Michael has gotten confirmation that the AVATAR trailer will NOT be attached to WOLVERINE unfortunately. Sorry to burst so many bubbles on that one - IMDb was all the rage about it today. The big thing here though was Cameron's emphasis that the 3D was not the huge tech hurtle that the new perfcap system was - and of course, crossing the "uncanny valley". Don't forget to buy your own copy of Empire Magazine for more coverage!

Stoked is not a strong enough word for how I feel about AVATAR... :-)