Hey folks, Harry here... Well, it seems we've begun to turn the corner with AVATAR - Cameron is beginning to show up and talk about the film, give glimpses of the stylistic look, via the video game screen shots - and I think it is only a matter of time till we begin to get our first look at some finished shots from the film itself. And I hear footage will be shown at Comic Con. All those lucky virgin eye sockets will be popped I'm sure!
This is actually from the video game, but gives a good idea of what the movie will look like. Cameron was at a Ubisoft Press Conference to talk about the game. You can read our write-up here: Click here! But the best part? The press site let some new images slip. This universe is looking awesome. Click here! -Media Mike IGN.com
And my friends at Joystiq at Kampbell Kid's behest sent me this:
5:20PM Guillemot introduces ... James Cameron! The crowd goes insane, of course. (There are nerds here, remember?) 5:21PM Cameron delves into some Avatar backstory: He wrote the first treatment over a decade ago, but was balked at by his special effects guys, Digital Domain. Now, with photorealistic CG being attainable, Cameron resurrected the project. The story takes place in 22nd century, with most of the action taking place on an earth-like planet, Pandora. 5:23PM The navi -- humanoid inhabitants of Pandora -- live among a myriad of alien creatures, some beautiful and some extremely dangerous. This is sounding a lot like Los Angeles, but with better draw distances. 5:25PM Jake Sully is the main character, who explores Pandora in an Avatar body. It allows him movement from a distance, even though he's really paralyzed. As he goes deeper into the Navi culture, "he ultimately has to choose sides" in a battle. Oh, which is the "mother of all battles," adds Cameron. Special effects extravaganza confirmed! 5:26PM December 18 is the film's release date. One would assume that Ubisoft's game adaptation will arrive at around the same time. "A fully immersive cinematic experience" is promised by Cameron, who! says it 's the biggest and toughest project he's ever done. 5:27PM Cameron met with Ubisoft in 2006. Ubisoft was pitching a title that was already in line with the spirit of the film, which filled him with confidence that he was choosing the right partner. Cameron's theory: "I didn't want anything associated with Avatar to suck." 5:29PM Cameron notes that the timing for typical game-movie transitions is too brief -- Avatar's game development started over two years ago, which he hopes will avoid that demonstrable problem usually suffered by film tie-ins. 5:31PM Ubisoft came up with a player's choice addition to the Avatar universe, allowing gamers to choose whether they would adopt a Navi perspective during certain events. Ubi is committed to make Avatar the first major stereoscopic 3-D title, adds Cameron. The initial demo blew him away, it seems. 5:32PM The world of the game is, in some ways, a richer version that you won't find in the film. "The perfect confluence between these two different media." Cameron adds, "Neither one is the red-headed stepchild of the other." 5:33PM "Ubisoft has done it." Cameron warns us to not play the demo during E3, however, because it might make us afraid. "It's pretty darn exciting."
