Happy Friday everyone!

We missed last week due to the launch of our sister site, GameRant.com and the fact that there was quite a few less one-sheets than normal so instead, I’ve combined them all from the last two weeks into this edition of Poster Friday.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Avatar, Precious, Crazy on the Outside, Daybreakers, Lost, Salt, Alice in Wonderland, Crazy Heart, Kick-Ass, The Yellow Handkerchief, Caprica, All About Evil, The Wolfman, Ong Bak 3, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, From Paris with Love and Wonderful World.

In addition to that we have some neat stylistic posters for some popular television shows.

Let’s get to it.

Most of what we’ve seen so far from James Cameron’s Avatar has had to do with the cat-like alien race, The Na’vi. Not really a surprise, considering that people’s main fascination with this film has been the pioneering digital effects work used to create the Na’vi, however, some of us have been wondering, “What about the humans’ technology?”

It might come as a surprise if you didn’t catch some of the early concept art that leaked during Avatar’s production, but yes! The movie DOES offer more than CGI “Cat-Smurfs.” In fact, there is a whole array of sci-fi tech that the invading human army uses to conquer the alien planet of Pandora – and now you can get a look at all that tech in a new three-minute featurette!

Since her starring turn as Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, the lovely Zoe Saldana has been racking up a number of major films. Besides the inevitable Star Trek sequel, Zaldana will play Aisha in the DC comic book adaptation The Losers, as well as the alien Neytiri in James Cameron’s epic sci-fi (or is it fantasy?) film Avatar. Recently, Coming Soon snagged an interview with the fast-rising actress at the DVD/Blu-ray release party for Star Trek.

In the interview, Saldana explains that, although her busy schedule has her worn out, she hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for any of her upcoming projects.

By now I would hope most of you have seen the latest episode of South Park, entitled “Dances With Smurfs” (if not, you need to go HERE right away and do so!). The episode follows in the show’s great tradition of intelligent inappropriateness, this time lampooning such things as school shootings (really pushing it there), the current political landscape (hilarious) and, in a twist-turn in the final 1/3, James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi epic, Avatar.

So what do all those random things have in common? Only the minds behind South Park know for sure…

Back August I was one of those thousands of people who packed into movie theaters for “Avatar Day”, an event which provided the opportunity to see 15 minutes of footage from James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi epic in all its IMAX 3D glory.

At the time the Avatar teaser trailer had just dropped to lukewarm reception; readers were waiting for a more in-depth analysis of the film, both on a visual and plot level. After seeing the preview footage, I asserted that Avatar is going to be a great fantasy adventure, but didn’t really feel like the sci-fi epic it had been touted as… Talk about opening a can a worms!

Wallets shook in the pant seats of moviegoers (and likely more than a few filmmakers) worldwide this week, as The New York Times released a report tallying the financial costs of James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi epic, Avatar – and man, just looking at the raw numbers, it’s hard not to start having flashbacks to 1995 when Kevin Costner’s Waterwold topped the hill as the most expensive hype-and-flop flick ever made (did I just horribly date myself with that comment, BTW?).

Avatar will reportedly cost 20th Century Fox, James Cameron and all subsequent investors a combined total of $500 million to make and market, leaving, well, MOST OF US wondering if the film – based on a (semi) original story imagined by Cameron) – has a hope of being a box office success story, or the fate of being the next Waterworld.

Happy Friday everyone! For our first Friday of November 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up. So, before you head out to see this week’s opening movies, namely The Men Who Star at goats, A Christmas Carol, The Box and The Fourth Kind, check out the latest promo sheets below.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Kick-Ass, The Wolfman, Conan, The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse, Clash of the Titans, Scream 4, A Single Man, Avatar, Machete, Green Zone, Let Me In, Tell Tale and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

We also have a few bonus items for this year’s Pixar movie, Up.

Let’s get to it.

A few days back we got a look at the new three-and-a-half minute international trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar and it was incredible.

Not only did it vastly improve over the first theatrical trailer, it provided a much deeper glimpse into the story of the film, its characters and its many awesome action sequences – all wrapped up in one big beautiful 3D colorful experience.

With the launch of Avatar’s Full-on marketing, we now have two more videos to share with you: The Japanese Avatar trailer and a brand new 30-second TV spot that aired during the final World Series game last night.

What’s that? You’re one of the two people (Gary Busey is the other) on the face of the planet that doesn’t know what this little indie film called Avatar from this up and coming production company, FOX, is all about? Well, fear not weary moviegoer for on November 1st, 20th Century FOX proves just how important media dominance is by going for the “world’s largest live trailer viewing” on “one of the biggest sports days of the year.”

FOX Sports will take the entire country viewing FOX NFL SUNDAY, America’s No. 1 NFL pre-game show, to Arlington, Texas and the new Cowboys Stadium, where the three minute and thirty second trailer will play live from the enormous Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision screen.  The crowd attending the Cowboys-Seattle Seahawks game will experience the AVATAR trailer live just minutes prior to the noon (Central) kickoff between the Cowboys and Seahawks, on the enormous, four-sided, high-definition screen that hangs above the Cowboys Stadium playing field.  At the same time, millions of others watching FOX NFL SUNDAY will see the trailer on-air – making it the largest live motion picture trailer viewing in history.

All aboard the Avatar train! Next stop Pandora!

I won’t lie: I have been on the skeptical side of the fence when it comes to Avatar. Not because I thought the film was going to be a dud or not fun to watch, but because I didn’t think all the hype was justified. Well, I just watched the International Trailer for Avatar, and I must say, color me impressed. Today, Coming Soon has dropped a new behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of Avatar and it gives some further insight on the film.

This is something you must watch!

The new international trailer for James Cameron’s long-awaited 3D “masterpiece,” Avatar, has made its way online and you can check it out here. It’s in English but there are non-English subtitles. The official release of the domestic version happens tomorrow morning at 10:00am pacific time.

No more talking, check out these three-and-a-half minutes of awesome after the jump.

With the hoopla over James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi blockbuster Avatar, you wouldn’t expect a spanner to be thrown in the works at this stage in the game, less than two months from its release. But that appears to be the case, with the aforementioned  trouble taking the form of an uncanny resemblance between Avatar’s plot and the plot of a 1957 Poul Anderson novella called Call Me Joe.

Some sites – such as over at io9 where this story originated – are asking the question of whether or not Avatar is a rip-off of Anderson’s sci-fi story from over five decades ago. It seems a bit strong to say “rip-off” but the evidence of the similarities between the two plots is undeniable. One of io9’s readers, “Goldfarb,” pointed them toward Call Me Joe – take a look at the plot synopsis for both it and Avatar, along with some artwork for both, and see if you think they bear more than a passing resemblance to one another:

You may remember the first teaser trailer for a little film called Avatar that premiered online a couple of months ago, causing quite a stir both in the split opinion about the trailer itself, as well as some initial difficulties in actually being able to view it on Apple.com. Around these parts we were on the positive side of the fence, and put any flaws the Avatar trailer may have had down to the fact that it was meant to be seen on as big a screen as possible and not on a computer screen.

Our first proper look at Avatar was, in the end, an extended teaser, basically hinting at the visuals that are to come (“This is great,” was the extent of the dialogue). But those wanting a better feel for the story need not fret – a new trailer is on its way. The guys over at ComingSoon.net have learned from 20th Century Fox that a new 3.5 minute trailer will start to be shown in theaters this Friday, October 23rd.

Before the second Avatar trailer hits (which is apparently “soon”), we have six new high-res images from the film, by way of SpoilerTV, for your viewing pleasure. Even if some people were left disappointed by our first proper look at Avatar by way of the first ever trailer released in August (let’s try and forget the trailer accessibility fiasco…), I am still on the “Avatar looks great” bandwagon and these latest images only further that feeling.

The six new Avatar images are mostly shots of the blue Na’vi creatures which inhabit Avatar’s planet, Pandora, as well as Sam Worthington’s Jake Skully as his Avatar. But it’s always great to see more and/or better shots of them in all their CGI glory (get past the strangeness… they look awesome, people!). On top of those, there are also a couple of new non-CGI images which show off some of the human cast which includes Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez.

Avatar 2, Battle Angel (see above) and The Dive - three movie titles that have one thing in common: they’re all on the slate of upcoming projects for director James Cameron. Recently, Avatar producer (and longtime Cameron collaborator) Jon Landau (Titanic) sat down with French magazine Le Film to talk about the acclaimed director’s Avatar project, and (more importantly) the rumored projects Cameron will be working on down the line.

Special thanks to the guys over at Slash Film, who have done the legwork of translating of the quotes that Landau gave to Le Film. I guess the best place to start would be with the possibility of an Avatar sequel:

In what has to be the most hyped movie in history, 20th Century Fox is giving the world a heads-up that a new trailer for Avatar “could be coming soon.” The great guys at Cinema Blend pointed us to a story by Market Saw, where one of their guys talked to another guy heavily involved in Avatar’s propaganda promotional campaign.

“…, there are more trailers than I can count on 2 hands. (TV spots) (featurettes) (Ubisoft promo reels) etc, etc, and yes “exclusive” content will be available on avtr.com”.

And what will these new trailers and spots include, exactly? According to the source, we will hear “more than 3 lines of dialog” and Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver and the Na’vi will be of greater focus, as will the planet Pandora’s nightlife. Also included will be glimpses of Earth in the future and in one trailer, labeled the “Story Trailer”, there will be attention given to the “incredible performance that Sam Worthington gives as Jake.”

Ubisoft is excited to finally be able to demonstrate some gameplay footage for their upcoming video game tie-in for James Cameron’s Avatar and they want to know what you think!

The tweeted the announcement earlier today and linked to the video which you can watch below. The footage is introduced by Ubisoft Executive Producer, Patrick Naud.

Check it out after the jump!

As the days become shorter, and the nights become cooler, there is one thing on the horizon that all of us are quickly becoming aware of – the arrival of a slew of exciting 2009 Fall Movies. What’s always been great about this time of year is that it’s not just about “horror films” or movies that are made to touch the holiday hearts that burgeon each year as turkey, Santa and New Year’s Eve stretch into the new year and beyond.

The menu is varied, wide open and we hope – satisfying. While we couldn’t list them all, please join us as we quickly chronicle what lies ahead in Screen Rant’s 2009 Fall Movie Preview!

There have been a lot of rumors flying around about the upcoming Guillermo del Toro directed, Peter Jackson produced, two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic book, The Hobbit. Everything from casting rumors – Daniel Radcliffe, David Tennant or James McAvoy to play Bilbo? – to word of a third, “bridge” movie being made the would link the two Hobbit films to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Just as quick as these rumors surface, del Toro himself has been there to dispel them. And that has happened again recently when rumors surfaced that The Hobbit would be in 3D. By way of TheOneRing.net’s forum, del Toro himself has let fans know just what is true and what isn’t, including confirming who will be the Director of Photography for The Hobbit:

On August 21st this year, audiences around the world were treated to a special sneak preview of approximately 20 minutes of footage from James Cameron’s Avatar. The extended preview was an unprecedented event, but one that would allow a wider audience than just those reading the hype online to get a look at the Titanic director’s first film in over 12 years.

However, the event that was being referred to as “Avatar Day” reportedly didn’t even get close to selling out its screenings; early opinion was that interest in the film wasn’t as strong as was first surmised. However, I’m going to chalk the low turnout up to the fact that people (en masse) weren’t interested in seeing just part of the movie, when in a few months the whole thing will be available on a wider, more easily accessible level.

Speaking of which, the tickets for the 3D IMAX midnight screenings of Avatar have now gone on sale at Fandango and Movietickets.com. Yes, they’re selling tickets for a movie that is still over three and a half months away. I don’t know about you but that seems a bit premature, even for a movie on the scale of Avatar.

Hollywood’s newest favorite Aussie actor Sam Worthington has a lot on his plate coming up. In addition to being the lead in James Cameron’s long-awaited special-effects extravaganza, Avatar, Worthington will be playing Perseus in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans and is rumored for the part of Captain Nemo in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Wow, I’m just writing about these films and I’m tired.

Anyway, Steve Weintraub at Collider had the chance to sit down with Worthington on the set of Clash of the Titans to talk about some of his upcoming projects and his thoughts on his most recent big-budget film, Terminator: Salvation. Check out some portions of the interview below. For the full interview, make sure to head over to Collider.

In comparison to the recent unveiling of the first Avatar trailer (and the fan debate that ensued), anything other than a second trailer might not be considered a big deal. But nonetheless, until a second trailer gets released (which I don’t think will be all that soon), we have the various other images and posters from Avatar to tide us over. The latest comes to us courtesy of the new issue of Empire magazine, which has some new pics/artwork of James Cameron’s latest on its cover, as well as on a special fold-out section.

After the teaser trailer for Avatar premiered to a lot of fan debate a few days ago, we now also have the Avatar video game trailer for you, as well as a batch of images from the accompanying toy line.

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Avatar Video Game

The video game of Avatar has been in the making for over two and a half years now, being developed right alongside the movie. Unlike most games based on upcoming movies (which are mostly just rushed to get it on the shelves when the movie comes out), the Avatar game was developed as an extension of the movie. The game has its own creatures, settings and weapons, some designed by Ubisoft (the game company) and some even by Weta (who’re doing the CGI for the movie). James Cameron has even revealed that some of things in the game he incorporated into the actual movie.

That’s certainly impressive to hear about a movie-based game…

So OK, I was one of the fortunate who managed to get the Avatar official website working long enough to snag tickets to Friday’s “Avatar Day” IMAX preview screening event. Attendees were treated to 25 minutes of footage from James Cameron’s upcoming “sci-fi epic,” which has largely been touted for its supposed-to-be-revolutionary CGI f/x.

So did Avatar live up to the hype? Yes and No.

For years now people have been listening to the whispers about Avatar, James Cameron’s sci-fi epic that has been nearly a decade-and-a-half in the making.

For Avatar, Cameron has pioneered new technologies in filming that have allowed him to create “photorealistic” CGI images so detailed and textured, they are said to be almost indistinguishable from reality – and did I mention he’s done all this in 3D to boot?

Well, Hollywood directors have seen it; attendees at Comic-Con’s Avatar panel have seen it; now you can see it. Today we have the official trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar – and although it’s not in 3D, the fruits of Cameron’s labors are hard to deny.

Behold: Avatar.

Avatar has finally joined in the fun of movie marketing, making a big splash recently with the announcement of “Avatar Day” during their presentation and panel at San Diego Comic-Con last month.

More recently, we found out the the trailer would be debuting online at the end of this week. Then we found it out would be a day early… that means today!

So, in preparation for this big event, we have six brand new images for James Cameron’s little sci-fi project courtesy of Collider that show the key cast members of the film and the cool-looking air vehicles featured in the movie. Check them out after the jump

Fan boys around the world, get ready to for the ultimate geekasm! People, big and small, old and young, ugly and not so ugly, are clamoring around the world to watch James Cameron’s new $235 million dollar, effects laden, eye-popping extravaganza titled Avatar! Don’t believe me about the hype surrounding this movie? Then you obviously weren’t one of the web users that crashed the Avatar website Monday trying to get free tickets to watch 16 minutes of glorious Avatar footage.

Well, since we can’t bring you the real trailer until August 21st August 20th, we decided to show you a trailer put up on YouTube by user davechandler. The graphics and special effects are far from finished and I’m sure they will be touched up and “kick-ass-ified” for the world-wide official release, but they give you a pretty good idea of what to expect. Enjoy!

A few days ago we reported on the details of “Avatar Day,” which is an event kicking off worldwide on August 21st that will allow people to see 16 minutes of James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D IMAX for free.

On the same day as this rather bold marketing move, the first ever trailer for Avatar was going to be released, presumably both in theaters and online. However, with regards to at least the latter, it looks like we might be getting a look a day earlier than we thought.

One of the most anticipated movies coming out during the Christmas movie season is undoubtedly James Cameron’s 3-D sci-fi movie Avatar. In fact, it could be argued that Avatar is THE most anticipated movie of 2009. At least, that is what James Cameron and Fox are hoping. They haven’t been shy about drumming up hype for Avatar, either.

Earlier this month we got our first look at a Na’vi toy, the alien race that lives on the planet Pandora where the film is mostly set. While interesting, the toy wasn’t as mind-blowing as I was hoping. Of course it is just a toy, so it may not be a fair representation of the actual creature. Now, Peter Sciretta at /Film, has nabbed a better look at the Na’vi and Avatar star Sam Worthington as Jake Sully.

Check it out:

During the Avatar panel at Comic-Con last month, it was revealed that a special 16-minute long preview of some footage from Avatar would be shown to the general public for FREE in select IMAX theaters. This is great news for avid movie fans out there who have been following all the Avatar news, who weren’t lucky enough to see the footage that was shown in Hall H in San Diego during the convention.

It’s also a bold marketing move on the part of James Cameron and Fox – one that could very well work out perfectly to get a lot of people excited about Avatar (those who weren’t already excited, that is). So when and how do you snag tickets to this special 16-minute 3D IMAX preview? Well, the LA Times has some specific details about what is being called “Avatar Day” and we have them here for you.