I’d thought I would squeeze in one more Avatar post before seeing the film tomorrow. As you can tell here at TFS we are quite excited for the film and have been trying to provide you with as many updates as possible. Check them all out below.
Final Avatar IMAX Poster:
Six New Avatar Clips [Coming Soon]
There will be an online Avatar listening party for James Horner‘s score Thursday (12/10) at 3PM EST [Avatar Score]
Avatar Opening Weekend Tracking at 60 to 70 Million [Hollywood Elsewhere]
SciFiWire also spoke with Cameron and he had this to say about all the detractors and naysayers toward the film:
“I know there’s been a lot of talk and speculation about it, but it’s kind of like the generic Oscar buzz out there—it’s pretty ridiculous when people haven’t even see the movie. All anyone has seen is the 25 minutes of various scenes we showed at Comic-Con—and that’s not the movie! How can fans judge it by that?”
Cameron insists that the mix of sky-high expectations and negative fan buzz isn’t freaking him out. “No, it’s good, as we had to sell a movie that wasn’t a sequel or remake or part of a franchise or based on a best-seller. It had no brand awareness, and I was more worried about people not even knowing about the film than them kind of arguing about it or having high expectations or having those dashed.”
“(once) even hard-core sci-fi fans see the whole movie, they’ll get it, because the film will speak for itself. If I can just get ’em in the damn theater, the film will act on them in the way it’s supposed to, in terms of taking them on an amazing journey and giving them this rich emotional experience. And it’s not really like any other film, and I think that’s its greatest asset—and its greatest deficit. You can’t compare it to something else.”
In a bit of fun news, MTV reports that James Cameron finally saw McG’s Terminator Salvation and had this to say:
I have seen it, and unfortunately I saw it the wrong way, on cable at the hotel, while I was working, over three nights because I don’t have much time. It’s better than I thought it was going to be.
Avatar Backlash Backlash [IFC]
HitFix is reporting that Avatar may get a boost at The Golden Globes:
After a screening yesterday morning, very reliable sources have told Awards Campaign that the HFPA were incredibly positive about Cameron’s latest endeavor. In fact, it’s now very likely to be nominated in both the Best Picture – Drama and Best Director categories when the Golden Globe nominations are announced next Tuesday. This was almost unthinkable a week ago and may push expected Globe nominees such as “The Hurt Locker” or “An Education” out of the Best Picture – Drama race. Additionally, this could (emphasis on “could”) find “Avatar” seriously being considered for one of the ten nominees for Oscar’s Best Picture trophy — especially considering the 8-10th slots hardly seem secure at this point in the race.
CollegeHumor has a funny Team America/Avatar Mash-up:
Pandorapedia (an Avatar encyclopedia) is now live.
I’ve also found this list of all talk show appearances in the coming week that cast and crew will be on. Check them out below:
THE TODAY SHOW, NBC
James Cameron – Monday 12/14/09
LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS
Zoe Saldana – Monday 12/14/09
Leona Lewis – Tuesday 12/15/09
THE VIEW, ABC
Sigourney Weaver – Tuesday 12/15/09
Sam Worthington – Tuesday 12/15/09
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, SYNDICATED
Leona Lewis – Wednesday 12/16/09
LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY, NBC
Joel David Moore – Wednesday 12/16/09
TAVIS SMILEY, PBS
James Cameron – Thursday 12/17/09
LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON, CBS
Sigourney Weaver – Thursday 12/17/09
Michelle Rodriguez – Friday 12/18/09
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC
James Cameron – Friday 12/18/09
Two Awesome New TV Spots:
Lastly, I’ve found two foreign impressions around the web which I’ve gathered synopsis of below:
The first comes from Roman Volobuev, a credible and known movie critic in Russia who saw Avatar at a Moscow prescreening. His previous articles indicate he was an Avatar skeptic, but has since come around after seeing the film. He said Cameron delivered, unlike George Lucas and that Stephen Lang is now “officially the coolest dude in the world”. The only thing he didn’t like was the end credit song (presumably Leona Lewis’ I See You).
The German station ZDF says that “the showdown (final battle) is too long, otherwise it’s a perfect movie.”
Take these lightly but I thought they were the first somewhat credible impressions we have. There are a ton of critic screenings tomorrow (including ours) as well as the world premiere in London, so expect more impressions to arrive.
Avatar hits theaters December 18th in IMAX 3D.