Despite the box office success of Avatar the sales of Avatar: The Game weren’t that impressive. It wasn’t a flop, selling over 2.7 million copies, but it didn’t meet expectations, which some blame on Ubisoft’s decision to release it 2 weeks ahead of the movie (before the hype).

With Avatar 2 and 3 set for 2014 and 2015 Ubisoft will have another chance to make an Avatar game, and director James Cameron thinks the universe is “perfect” for an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game).

From IGN:

I think Avatar is a perfect IP for an MMO. It’s a very, very big world and based on the first film, you might not sense that, but we’re talking about an entire planet, an entire alter world, and in fact a universe that has other planetary bodies, as well, and other cultures, other life forms. Eventually people will see enough scope to be able to see how the MMO will work, but that’s going to have to be launched…the timing of that is going to have to be carefully orchestrated with the release of the second and third film because we don’t want to be giving away elements before the fact. And also I think one of the cool things about an MMORPG is that you have to have a lot more possibilities for characters than what you see in the film. The film is really just a leaping off point, so we’ve got to create a rich and diverse world that lives well beyond the films.

While no plans are currently in place to develop an Avatar MMO, it’s an interesting prospect. If it does happen we probably won’t be seeing it for another 3-4 years so, like the movies, we’ll just have to wait patiently.

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Harry Potter, Jaws, Jurassic Park and King Kong have all made the leap from the big screen to entertaining tourists as theme park attractions, and it was just announced that Avatar will be solidifying itself in popular culture by having an attraction built at Disney Parks.

From the Disney Parks blog:

James and his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at Lightstorm Entertainment will serve as creative consultants on the project and will work side-by-side with our Walt Disney Imagineers as we dream up experiences that will take our guests deep into worlds of AVATAR like never before. There are also two sequels to the record setting first film in the works, which will offer more fascinating stories, characters and locations to explore in the AVATAR universe. Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort is planned as the site of the first AVATAR-themed land with construction expected to begin by 2013.

We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR.

James Cameron and 20th Century Fox have a global franchise with Avatar, so the arrival of merchandise, video-games and theme parks is just another way to keeping the money rolling in. An Avatar attraction is a good idea given its popularity and the world Cameron has created, but construction won’t begin until 2013 so tourists won’t be bonding with mechanical Mountain Banshee’s for a few years yet.

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A few years ago James Cameron was deciding whether Avatar or Battle Angel would be his return to directing after nearly a decade long absence. He eventually moved forward with Avatar, as we know, and he has just signed up to direct Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 back-to-back for December 2014 and December 2015.

Fans of the manga comic Battle Angel Alita. which follows a cyborg who is found and repaired by a scientist, have been patiently waiting for Cameron to make it into a movie and while the director will be busy for the next 5 years, he insists he still wants to direct it.

From Collider:

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.

Last year Cameron said:

Battle Angel, I think, is a science fiction movie that begs the question ‘What does it mean to be human?’ It takes place in a future world, a world that has cyborgs, but are you human if you have a mind, if you have a heart, if you have a soul? It’s a journey of a young girl who tries to discover herself and what she learns upon that journey… I just love the character. Maybe it’s from having daughters. I have three daughters, and thinking about what it’s like, the main character is this little girl that everybody kind of ignores. She’s got such a heroic heart on the inside, I’ve always loved that character.

I think there are a few other directors who could possibly tackle Battle Angel, but it looks like Cameron is keeping his hands on it for now. At this rate we can expect Battle Angel in 2020!

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Nothing is set in stone. Those are words to live by when it comes to awards season predictions.  Early on it may have looked like The Social Network was going to steamroll the Academy Awards and walk away with Best Picture unchallenged. That would have been very boring. Thankfully The King’s Speech, which upset The Social Network by taking Best Picture at the Producers Guild Awards this past Saturday, is looking like a serious competitor. The Oscar nominations, which were released early this morning, only serve to reinforce that; The King’s Speech garnered twelve nominations, making it the most nominated film this year.

In second place is the Western remake True Grit with ten nominations.  While some may be surprised by this, seeing as the movie was completely snubbed by the Golden Globes and has only popped up sporadically this awards season, it shouldn’t be all that shocking. Joel and Ethan Coen are long-time Academy darlings.  In fact, they took the Best Director slot which many assumed would be given to Inception’s director/writer Christopher Nolan, which would have lined up with the Director’s Guild Award nominations.

It will be interesting to see just how much love the Coens’ movie ends up getting. It is entirely possible that Hailee Steinfeld will grab the Best Supporting Actress statuette for her role in True Grit, as the Academy has a long history of awarding young actresses in that category and there is no clear frontrunner this year.

While a few of the categories probably won’t offer any tension (Colin Firth, nominated for his role in The King’s Speech, should win Best Actor for example), there ought to be a few nail biters. Natalie Portman (Black Swan) is looking strong in the Best Actress category, but Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) may surprise everyone. This is Bening’s fourth nomination and Academy voters may feel she is long overdue for a win.

The real tension will come at the end of the ceremony, as it looks like we will have another Avatar/The Hurt Locker type showdown for Best Picture between The Social Network and The King’s Speech. While my pride may be hurt if the Facebook movie loses, for I predicted its win with much confidence a while ago, my sense of aesthetic would appreciate a win for The King’s Speech.

You can see a full list of the nominations here.

Based on true events, 127 Hours follows Aron Ralston (Franco), a dare-devil outdoorsman who gets trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in the Utah mountains. As hours turn into days, Ralston embarks on a personal journey in which he relies on the memories of family and friends – as well as his own courage and ingenuity – to turn adversity into triumph.

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The wait may be over for those Avatards wondering when they will finally get to experience Avatar in 3D from the comfort of their own living room, as it looks like the first Avatar 3D Blu-ray will be available in December. With a catch.

According to Hi-Def Digest Avatar 3D will be available from December 1st “as part of a Panasonic 3D Ultimate Pack (which includes the Blu-ray 3D and two pairs of Panasonic 3D eyeglasses) as a bonus with the purchase of any Panasonic Viera Full HD 3D TV! ”

So if you’re rich enough to be able to buy one of Panasonic’s Viera 3D TV’s then you’re in luck, but everyone else may have to wait another year or so. 3D TV’s aren’t that widespread at the moment but over the next few years they will probably become more affordable and more people will start buying them.

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Earlier this week 20th Century Fox announced that an Extended Collector’s Edition of Avatar will be released on November 16th which contains “hours of never-before seen material including over 45 minutes of amazing deleted scenes” as well as “documentaries, behind the scenes featurettes and artwork”.

Now they have released a trailer for the Extended Collector’s Edition which finally gives us a glimpse at the unused alternate opening. We see shots of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) walking through a crowded 2154 city, and a few more shots of him getting involved in a fight in a bar.

You can read the full specifications of the Extended Collector’s Edition here, and you can pre-order it from Amazon via these links:

DVD | Blu-ray

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20th Century Fox has announced that Avatar Extended Collector’s Edition will be released on November 16th in the US on DVD and Blu-ray. The set will include three versions of the film (Original, Special Edition, and Collectors Edition) as well as “hours of never-before seen material including over 45 minutes of amazing deleted scenes”. This is the set most Avatar fans will want as it contains “documentaries, behind the scenes featurettes and artwork”.

Here are the specs:

AVATAR Extended Collection’s Edition: 3-Disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray:
Disc One
· Original Theatrical Version
· Special Edition Re-Release
· Collector’s Extended Cut
16 more minutes and exclusive alternate opening

Family Audio Track (All Objectionable Language Removed)
· Original Theatrical Release
· Special Edition Re-release

Disc Two
· “Capturing Avatar“ An in-depth feature length documentary with James Cameron, Jon Landau and cast and crew
· Deleted Scenes – including over 45 minutes of new never-before-seen deleted scenes
· Production Materials

Disc Three
· Open “Pandora’s Box” and go deeper into the filmmaker process
· Interactive Scene Deconstruction: Explore the various stages of production through 3 different viewing modes
· Production Shorts: 17 featurettes covering performance capture, scoring the film, 3D fusion camera, stunts and much more
· Avatar Archives including original scriptment, 300 page screenplay and the extensive Pandorapedia
· BD-live Portal with additional bonus materials

AVATAR Collector’s Edition: 3-Disc Special Edition DVD:
Disc One
· Original Theatrical Version
· Special Edition Re-release
· Collector’s Extended Cut
16 more minutes and exclusive alternate opening

Disc Two
· Original Theatrical Version
· Special Edition Re-release
· Collector’s Extended Cut

Disc Three
· “Capturing Avatar“ An in-depth feature length documentary with James Cameron, Jon Landau and cast and crew
· Deleted Scenes – including over 45 minutes of new never-before-seen deleted scenes

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Yeah, you know it’s going to be an bad weekend when the most anticipated movie is a re-release of an 8 month old blockbuster with 8 extra never-before-seen minutes added to the mix, in IMAX for the last time (or so they want you to believe).

While Avatar: Special Edition (from now on simply called Avatar SE) is the highlight of the weekend, it probably won’t also be number one. Coming out (again) in 812 theaters (3D and IMAX 3D only) Avatar SE is expected to gross around $8 million or so, but then again, Avatar was only expected to gross a heck of a lot less then it did, so who knows. If there’s one movie you don’t underestimate, it’s Avatar. Even more so for this cause this is a Special Edition, get it, it’s Special.

Then we have The Exorcism of someone, I personally lost count. Oh wait, this is supposed to be The Last Exorcism, now I get it. Coming out in 2874 theaters, $14 million or so is what I’m seeing, good for number one, easy. Come on, this is pathetic, like last weekend pathetic times 2. But hey, 69% on RottenTomatoes says this movie ain’t actually bad, so I might eat my words in a few days/weeks.

And finally we got this movie Takers, and yeah, it’s about a bunch of guys that want to take something, go figure. This is in 2206 theaters and might be looking at probably $10 million for a second place finish.

In 3rd place we should be getting The Expendables with $9 million for an $81 million tally in just half a month. Then I guess Sly wasn’t half mad when he started working on The Expendables 2 even before the first one came out (oh, and he has plans for a 3rd one also).

In 4th and 5th place we will have the battle of the ages (not), Julia Roberts (Eat Prey Love) and 8 extra never-before-seen minutes of blue people (Avatar SE), both aiming for $8 million.

Other note worthy events for the weekend are the fact that Inception is going to pass $270 million in North America and Toy Story 3 the $1 billion mark worldwide today (so technically, it’s not there yet cause we don’t have any official numbers until tomorrow, so Liam, I know Deadline and Disney said it, but it didn’t happen yet, not officially, and yes, I know this is just me being a giant douche cause I wanted to write about it and you took away from me the single most note worthy event of the week).

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Avatar Special Edition will be released later this week on Digital 3D and IMAX 3D with 8 minutes of never-before-seen footage, but in a perfect example of franchise milking 20th Century Fox has put 16 minutes of new footage on the Avatar Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray which will be released in November. I suppose there needed to be something substantial if they wanted people to buy Avatar twice.

Producer Jon Landau spoke to THR and revealed more details on what to expect:

“Avatar” producer Jon Landau said new scenes included in the now 171-minute theatrical special edition involve action sequences and narrative-deepening extensions of key scenes involving the blue-skinned Na’vi of Pandora and their human visitors.

“We tried to look at what people have responded to in the film and give them more of that,” Landau told THR on Monday. “There’s a whole new scene that takes place in the (Na’vi) school, there’s more night bioluminescence, there’s new creatures, and there is a new action scene. The scenes don’t just feel like added scenes — they are very organic to the story and embellish it.”

“About every 15 minutes you’ll get something new that you haven’t seen before, which is kind of cool,” Fox domestic distribution chief Bruce Snyder said. “People want to go back to Pandora on the big screen.”

I guess they will find another few minutes of footage for the inevitable 3D DVD and Blu-ray sometime next year.

Will you be buying Avatar Special Edition on DVD or Blu-ray?

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20th Century Fox has released a new trailer for Avatar Special Edition which will be released later this month. The trailer contains some of the new footage which will be included in the film (8 minutes of never-before-seen footage in total) mixed with footage we’ve become accustomed to.

Watch below:

Avatar Special Edition will be released in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D on August 27th in the US, and here are the re-release dates for other countries:

BELGIUM 8 SEPTEMBER 2010
RUSSIA 26 AUGUST 2010
SPAIN 17 SEPTEMBER 2010
UK 27 AUGUST 2010
AUSTRALIA 26 AUGUST 2010
INDIA 27 AUGUST 2010
JAPAN 16 OCTOBER 2010
SOUTH KOREA 16 SEPTEMBER 2010
MEXICO 15 OCTOBER 2010
ARGENTINA 16 SEPTEMBER 2010

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