James Cameron's AVATAR discussion thread

[Nacho]

I didn't know that

I did know that he came up with the mandible idea for the Predator though

He also designed the alien queen for Aliens....(not Giger)...

 

[The Entity]

He also designed the alien queen for Aliens....(not Giger)...

Oh yes, that's right! The man has quite the imagination it seems!
Can't wait to see Avatar in the theatres in December, to see his new creatures in action

 

[lightwave000]

New photos for you guys! These are some production shots from props used in the movie by the human military RDA/AVTR programs.

 

[p!tu]

cool pics!!!

 

[lightwave000]

I predict worldwide sales at $700Million-1 Billion when its all said and done. Not including dvd/blu ray which will probably utilize the new 3d technology in new flatscreen tvs. This movie will probably stay in theaters for a while. One thing many of you forget about Titanic is although it was a long movie, people went to see it over and over again. Avatar has the same appeal. Again, a love story in an environment like no one has witnessed before. Everyone who has seen parts of the film in its close to finished form (Peter Jackson) and others-have stated that you see new things every time you watch it. There is so much content but not wasted content or CG for CG sake i.e. Star Wars Prequels. I believe it will lend itself to multiple viewings. Not to mention children.

The Dark Knight had Heath Ledger and a vast audience but there are plenty who could care less about batman out there-mainly a lot of women who either went due to the leading men or were duped by their significant others. This should appeal to both sexes.

I know there will be rebuttle on this like there always is but once again lets just wait and see and reserve some judgement till the next trailer comes out which should be much better. Cameron and Landau have both said that trailer was thrown together with scraps.

There is going to be a marketing campaign blitz like we have never seen. Oh, and Cameron mentioned there are several battle scenes but the one at the end is the biggest ever imagined or shown on screen by far in history!

One last thing, the score being done by James Horner has been in the works for over a year. Its supposed to be "awesome" and easily the best of the year. Very epic.

Here is the article-


EXCLUSIVE. James Horner’s score for James Cameron’s upcoming 3-D sci-fi saga Avatar is, without much competition, the film music event of the year. MovieScore Magazine is excited to bring you the first inside look at the creation of the score. Breaking the hush-hush that has been surrounding James Horner’s work on the film for more than a year, Mike Knobloch, the executive vice president of Fox Music, describes James Horner’s music for the film as epic. “It’s a brilliantly unique blend of traditional and contemporary, electronic elements and spans the entire spectrum of attitude and energy – from bombastic action to the delicate, romantic discovery of a new world.” In a nutshell, the film, which is premieres on December 18, tells the story about a war veteran (Sam Worthington) who is sent to Pandora, a planet inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race which is fighting for survival.

One of the reasons behind the heat surrounding the Avatar score is, of course, that the film itself is one of the most anticipated Hollywood movies to hit the big screen in recent years. Another reason is that putting the names Cameron and Horner in one sentence means gold: Aliens from 1986 is regarded to be among the finest action film scores ever written (despite the extremely tight working conditions for the composer) and Titanic… well, do we really need to explain?

Interestingly, the time Horner is being allowed to work on Avatar seems to be the complete opposite of Aliens, where Horner had 3 1/2 weeks to finish about 80 minutes of music.Horner has been working on Avatar for more than a year and was doing pre-records and working on ideas with Cameron already back in June 2008. “The recording of the score has been an ongoing process for months and it’s still in process. Electronic elements of the score are being recorded at a studio assembled specifically for this project. The orchestral component of the score is being recorded in groups of dates that started in June,” Mike Knobloch explained, adding that the orchestral sessions are being held at the Newman Stage at 20th Century Fox.

Talking about the stats and numbers of the score, Knobloch said that they “are still changing and evolving as James Horner is keeping up with James Cameron and the cutting room, who are still busy fine-tuning the film. The film will run the better part of three hours and there will likely be nearly as much score.” The main orchestra used for the score features over 100 musicians, including eight horns, four trumpets and five trombones. The string section is huge, comprising of 70 players. The music also features vocalists singing in the film’s Na’vi language, as well as a few other acoustic and electronic instrumentalists.

Mike Knobloch explained that there “is a great deal of acoustic and electronic rhythmic elements driving the score and vocalists singing and chanting in the fictional Na’vi dialect. Horner is doing a brilliant job of creating music that transports us to another world, but supports the film using the traditional orchestral conventions to make a sound that’s hugely cinematic.”

horner

Working with James Horner on the score are his usual team: recording mixer Simon Rhodes, music editors Jim Henrikson and ^^^^ Bernstein and synth player/programmer Ian Underwood. Other team members include electronic music arranger Simon Franglen and synth programmer Aaron Martin.

The score will, of course, be released on CD and the label that will do the honours is Atlantic Records. “The release dates for both physical and digital products are still being finalized,” Mike Knobloch added.

56-year old James Horner is one of the most experienced film composers working in Hollywood. He wrote his first feature film scores in the late 1970s and early 1980s, getting his big break in the business with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982. The classically trained composer built his reputation in the business on his solid orchestral scores and dramatic instinct as witnessed in early scores such as The Name of the Rose, 48 hrs., Cocoon, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Krull. To date, he’s written more than hundred feature film scores and worked extensively with many acclaimed directors, including Ron Howard, Mel Gibson, Michael Apted, Edward Zwick and Walter Hill. His latest scores include The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Life Before Her Eyes and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Avatar is Horner’s first science fiction film score since Bicentennial Man which came out ten years ago.

 

[quadcent]

not sure about your $$$ value, but do you really mean $700 BILLION

 

[Kuzeh]

I read that too and I thought WTF??...
I mean Titanic made 600 million or so...
There's no way Avatar will make that much...

 

[agen_kolar]

I read that too and I thought WTF??...
I mean Titanic made 600 million or so...
There's no way Avatar will make that much...

Yeah, I don't know many people who are nearly as excited or even aware that this exists.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if it flopped, sadly. If they want it to become widely-known, they need to start pumping out advertisements, previews, commercials, etc.

 

[Lord Aykroyd]

Yeah, I don't know many people who are nearly as excited or even aware that this exists.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if it flopped, sadly. If they want it to become widely-known, they need to start pumping out advertisements, previews, commercials, etc.

My Girlfriend and I recently saw the preview in Theater and she said, "What the heck was that!".

I thought she sounded excited so I went into all the details: I told her it was Cameron's new movie, years in the making, the most advanced CGI to date, a movie they think will rival Titanic.

Her response: "It looks like crap".

Yup. It's going to tank.

 

[Kuzeh]

I wouldn't go as far as saying is going to tank, but yeah, mostly only fans are aware of this movie coming out...
I agree about the marketing... Time to nut up or shut up!

 

[lightwave000]

I read that too and I thought WTF??...
I mean Titanic made 600 million or so...
There's no way Avatar will make that much...

Wrongo, Titanic pulled in 1.8 billion worldwide. Sorry but thanks for playing our game...lol j/k

 

[lightwave000]

Yeah, I don't know many people who are nearly as excited or even aware that this exists.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if it flopped, sadly. If they want it to become widely-known, they need to start pumping out advertisements, previews, commercials, etc.

Precisely what they intend to do according to insiders and the Producer. They said there are more commercials and tie ins than they can count so even if there are a few who are in the know right now-when you actually have tv spots and mass marketing the public will decide to go or not.

All we have now is a TEASER! I think many forget that. It hasnt even been shown on tv. Wait for the 1st trailer to come out.

 

[Kuzeh]

Wrongo, Titanic pulled in 1.8 billion worldwide. Sorry but thanks for playing our game...lol j/k

I never said worldwide...
neither did you on your estimate...
And there's no way in hell ANY movie will make 700 billion dollars...
Sorry, but thanks for playing our game...

 

[lightwave000]

My Girlfriend and I recently saw the preview in Theater and she said, "What the heck was that!".

I thought she sounded excited so I went into all the details: I told her it was Cameron's new movie, years in the making, the most advanced CGI to date, a movie they think will rival Titanic.

Her response: "It looks like crap".

Yup. It's going to tank.

Lol, we shall see. I hope it does well so that this new 3D experience will be more appetizing to movie studios for future movies. Not necessarily the CG but the new camera they used to make 3d that isnt gimmicky but immersive. And sure we dont want all movies in 3d, sometimes you just want to sit and watch a flick but Im excited that there is actually another movie to get excited about.

Hit or miss, Im pumped for Dec 18th 2009.

 

[lightwave000]

I never said worldwide...
neither did you on your estimate...
And there's no way in hell ANY movie will make 700 billion dollars...
Sorry, but thanks for playing our game...

"I predict worldwide sales at $700Million-1 Billion when its all said and done."

Go back and double check. Worldwide was in there the whole time, but thanks for catching the 700billion thing...I suppose I needed to be more specific. Though a 700 billion dollar movie....lol come on people

But it could make more than that. That might be on the slim side.

 

[lightwave000]

Honestly, whether it does well or not or if its believable or not- Who in this thread is looking forward to seeing this movie?

 

[lightwave000]

BTW Kuzeh, I am looking forward to the "This is It" Michael Jackson documentary. Music did lose an amazing talent. I hope they release some of the 100 plus songs he wrote that were never released and his new album.

 

[agen_kolar]

Although it's my most anticipated movie of the year, I think Avatar is too obscure and too genre-specific (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) to draw a large crowd, and thus, large sales. I don't see it reaching 700 million, much less 700 billion.

 

[Kuzeh]

"I predict worldwide sales at $700Million-1 Billion when its all said and done."

Go back and double check. Worldwide was in there the whole time, but thanks for catching the 700billion thing...I suppose I needed to be more specific. Though a 700 billion dollar movie....lol come on people

But it could make more than that. That might be on the slim side.

Edit tool is amazing!!
Just messing with ya!

Honestly, whether it does well or not or if its believable or not- Who in this thread is looking forward to seeing this movie?

I am actually looking forward to this movie...
but I'm afraid it might suffer of over-hype between fans...
Actually I think Cameron said something about it during ComicCon...

BTW Kuzeh, I am looking forward to the "This is It" Michael Jackson documentary. Music did lose an amazing talent. I hope they release some of the 100 plus songs he wrote that were never released and his new album.

Yes, I'm very excited about it... but with mixed feelings...
I would prefer him being alive than having this movie...
As for the songs, I hope they just release the ones that are really worth it... there's a reason MJ didn't release them I think...

 

[quadcent]

My Girlfriend and I recently saw the preview in Theater and she said, "What the heck was that!".

I thought she sounded excited so I went into all the details: I told her it was Cameron's new movie, years in the making, the most advanced CGI to date, a movie they think will rival Titanic.

Her response: "It looks like crap".

Yup. It's going to tank.

first, that's exactly what i said. second is what i thought but didn't say it.

I wouldn't go as far as saying is going to tank, but yeah, mostly only fans are aware of this movie coming out...
I agree about the marketing... Time to nut up or shut up!

marketing??? hell yeah, no one in my family even knows about this movie yet, and from the previews i've seen so far it's not high on my list of ones to see.

Although it's my most anticipated movie of the year, I think Avatar is too obscure and too genre-specific (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) to draw a large crowd, and thus, large sales. I don't see it reaching 700 million, much less 700 billion.

have to agree with ya on that one. to far out there for me.