Tag: james cameron

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Sky Movies chief pins 3-D hopes on Star Wars, Titanic

The head of Sky Movies, Ian Lewis, thinks that Star Wars or Titanic could make 2-D to 3-D conversions appeal to the mass market.

“I know everybody is experimenting with it but I’ve yet to see a made for 2D movie where I’ve though the 3D conversion is good enough.

“We’re hopeful for the first half of next year where you have George Lucas releasing Phantom Menace in 3D and Cameron releasing Titanic, and one of those two, or between them, they will crack it.”

Certainly having the 3-D version of The Lion King be a hit helps as well, but animation is generally easier to convert. (via)

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James Cameron officially making Avatar sequels

As movie news goes, greenlighting sequels to a film that made a bajillion dollars is pretty much a no-brainer. Say what you will about Avatar and James Cameron, but there’s no denying the guy knows how to drag in the moola.

(Will this finally incite George Lucas to make more Star Wars, as last year’s stupid sequel trilogy rumor claimed? Again, probably not. George doesn’t need new movies to make himself further bajillions.)

We all know that Avatar is no Star Wars, even if it is now officially a franchise. And who can tell what the future holds? Cameron might have an Empire Strikes Back in him after all. But in any case, we can expect to hear this refrain for at least a couple more years. Sigh.

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Sorry, Mr. Cameron, Avatar is no Star Wars

In case you missed it, there was this small little movie that came out last year called Avatar.  (Not to be confused with Avatar:  The Last Airbender.)  It really struggled; only pulling in three Academy Awards.  (So sad.)

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, director and creator James Cameron is talking about its impending 3D re-release; including more Pandoric atmosphere and a missing tear-jerker moment.

Apparently, he is hoping this re-release will test out whether or not the Avatar brand can develop into a Star Wars– or Star Trek-type franchise.

Perhaps, being an old fart Star Wars fan, I find this difficult to believe.  But stranger things have happened.  (As in back in 1977.)  And even an attempt at doing more with the Avatar franchise will make at least the Avatarians (Pandorians? Avatar fans?) happy, for now.  So more power to him.

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Box Office: Avatar beats Titanic, but still lags behind The Phantom Menace

Avatar may have beat Titanic in terms of cold hard cash, but it still has yet to catch up with The Phantom Menace when it comes to the amount of tickets sold, Entertainment Weekly points out. And when the domestic box office numbers are adjusted for inflation, it’s only #26 – all three original trilogy films and TPM are higher, along with Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Exorcist and all-time champ Gone With the Wind. (A New Hope is #2.)

Granted, all this stat-pushing is petty and useless, but hey: We’re interested, aren’t we? And on that note, check below the cut for a blast from the past: The ad George Lucas took out in Variety when Titanic took the top spot from Star Wars. Continue reading “Box Office: Avatar beats Titanic, but still lags behind The Phantom Menace“

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Avatar and The Clone Wars: ‘Trespass’

So pretty much the entire world has heard of James Cameron’s monument to 3-D visual effects, Avatar, and quite a few have ended up comparing the story to Dance with Wolves, or The Last Samurai, or other white-guilt storylines. But, really – most of the story elements have been seen in the first season episode ‘Trespass’ in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Continue reading “Avatar and The Clone Wars: ‘Trespass’”

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George Lucas on Avatar, 3-D

Access Hollywood caught up with the maker himself at the Golden Globes (he had the Jack Nicholson seat at the show) and – naturally – asked him about the Best Drama winner and getting Star Wars in 3-D:

“We’ve been looking for years and years and years of trying to take ‘Star Wars’ and put it in 3-D,” George explained to Access. “But, [the] technology hasn’t been there. We’ve been struggling with it, but I think this will be a new impetus to make that happen.”

More of the same, basically: But is from George. (via)

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Movie news: Clueless director to take on Vamps

As if!Anything you can do to draw attention to your mouth is good. Clueless director Amy Heckerling is making a vampire romantic comedy. I can’t believe they found a way to actually might make me kind want to see a vampire movie. (No, Alicia Silverstone is not involved – Krysten Ritter is – but I am not one to resist a cheap Photoshop gag.) In related news Saturday Night Live’s Twilight spoof has been burning up the internet.

Oh, James Cameron. The New York Times claims that Avatar’s price tag is a cool $500 mil. Well, at least the latest trailer actually bothers to make it look like an action movie.

Mumble mumble fourth. The Los Angeles Times’ Geoff Boucher looks at the difficulty of making upcoming films for several different franchises: Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, X-Men and Pirates of the Caribbean. On that note, io9 quotes the relevant parts of a /Film podcast where X2 screenwriter Michael Dougherty describes what X3 might have been.

Shocking! ‘Archival footage’ from that cheesy alien abduction movie actually fake. People, did we learn nothing from Blair Witch?

Also… The ‘lost’ cantina scene of Star Trek; Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen talk The Hobbit; New poster for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

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SDCC ’09: The morning Star Wars catchup

Use the Force Trainer by starwarsblog @ Flickr aka Pablo HidalgoGet with the now, man! Oh, USA Today. Why are you trying to fan the flames of Prequel vs. Original Trilogy rivalry? Protip: It is no longer 2002. We OT fans can (mostly) roll with it.

Party like it’s 2010. Hey, TFN came back! On the Celebration V note, the rumor mill seems to be favoring Chicago and this pleases me. Midwest represent! No Florida!

Bookstuffs. Check out the cover for The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. And perhaps today someone will enlighten us on this Star Wars: Visions thing. There’s also a panel report on what has to be the most ridiculous visual dictionary so far. And yes, Pablo you are shameless.

New Robot Chicken: Bonus segment from the DVD. Down nerds, down.

Phototacular. StarWars.com and Rebelscum don’t stop snapping.

But wait! It’s a comic con! Dark Horse is bringing select issues of Empire, Legacy and The Clone Wars to the iPhone and will be producing two Star Wars one-shots.

Nerd-spotting. Great White Snark has a Day 1 costume gallery.

Facepalm. Fans say Avatar will be as game-changing as Star Wars. Please stop feeding James Cameron’s ego. Don’t you remember what happened after Titanic?