Update: Avatar just keeps on breaking records and barriers…

The weekend’s nearly over and the estimates for James Cameron’s Avatar are in. We’re looking at a $73 million domestic opening and just over $159 million worldwide bring its town debut gross at over $232 million.

Are these good or bad? Well, fans of the industry should be happy to know that this is the largest opening ever for an original film not based on an existing property (novel, short story) or film (sequel, remake) – so that’s always a win. It beat out Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for best December opening and (Update) might just squeeze past I am Legend. It’s also James Cameron’s biggest debut and I think Terminator 2, Aliens and Titanic were decent hits looking back on things…

That being said, some forecasts expected a domestic gross of mid to high-eighties so it fell short on that front with some blame being placed on the major snowstorms that hit the U.S. East coast over the weekend.

While it’s hard to get a clear-cut idea of what the production budget and marketing expenses are for the the blockbuster 3D epic, some say it may have reached as high as half a billion. Putting it into perspective, though, the film will almost certainly make that back once it has finished its run in theaters and then it’ll be a massive hit on Blu-ray and a big push into 3D home video. Fox made an investment in James Cameron’s project not for just this movie, but for the tech developed to bring it to life for other future projects that have other big-name directors everywhere excited to use it themselves.

And if they decide to go forward with an Avatar sequel, the ground-work, design, development and training has all been done and they’ll be able to go forward at a fraction of the cost.

James Cameron and Fox Studios are confident that positive critical reception and strong word-of-mouth will help carry the film over the next weeks. And if you remember, his last movie Titanic (yes, that was 12 years ago) opened at the same time and actually increased in box office numbers the following week.

That’s not to say that Avatar will improve on its numbers next week like we saw with Titantic, especially with Sherlock Holmes opening Christmas Day, but I do expect relatively strong numbers in the weeks to come.

If you’ve not seen it yet, or are waiting till it’s not as busy in the theaters or until Christmas is over – go see it. Avatar is one of the greatest theater-viewing experiences I’ve ever had and something that I needed to see twice to fully appreciate. While some say the story is bland or character development isn’t as strong as could be, don’t buy into that. There’s as good a story and characters here than any other film this year (and I watched quite a few movies) and if there is one movie I had to recommend people go see more than any other, James Cameron’s Avatar is it.

Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi and Laz Alonso. If you have seen it, join Screen Rant’s Avatar spoiler discussion and share your thoughts.

Sources: Box Office Mojo, Collider

We are on the cusp of the debut of one of Hollywood’s most anticipated releases in years, James Cameron’s Avatar. With concern about being the “most expensive movie in feature film history” and its likening to the wars overseas (essentially a movie-inspired take on the conquest of big oil over the small but feisty, native inhabitants of “Pandora”), there is a lot for Avatar and James Cameron to overcome even before its official release. Like most things however, one can find many potential answers from a review of the previous history of just about anything. Whether it’s the potential of a person to pay back money they might receive or the value to be reaped from a multi-million dollar blockbuster, answers can be found in what’s come before.

We’ll take a look at the movie history of director James Cameron to showcase how they succeeded, and what those trends mean for Avatar – a film that could be one of the most ground-breaking films all time or a very expensive, experimental crash-and-burn experience for James Cameron.

If you ask anyone interested in movies to name a film by director James Cameron, the listing is filled with staples in feature film lore. The Internet Movie Database allows visitors to populate a listing of directorial showcases for Cameron that make the mind reel.

Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)

Those that thought the love affair with between James Cameron and water started with The Abyss clearly didn’t know about Piranha 2: The Spawning, his first film. While it’s easily one of the most off-the-radar films for Cameron, it’s a sample of a horror film he admits he’d like to see made that he refers to in several of the director commentaries in his movies.

The Tantalizing Teaser: Bodies found inside a sunken ship. A new breed of genetically-enhanced flying fish being used as the “ultimate weapon.” The race to destroy this new breed of death before they can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting annual beach-bound fish fry and the world.

What’s to See? Did you miss the part where we talked about “genetically-enhanced flying fish?” While this movie is a bit short on story, the imagination, filmmaking characteristics, and early building blocks of Cameron’s career are all brilliantly showcased here. When the answer to not be eaten was to leave the water in Jaws. Cameron’s solution to ultimate peril is to give the flying flock of death – wings. Cameron’s “Guerilla filmmaking Skill Set” is ultra-present here and a sight to see. You also get to see a very young Lance Henriksen whose hairdo and voice alone is worth the 1hr and 24min run time. Also note that Piranha 3D is currently in post production with friend Scott Buckwald at the Prop Master helm.

The Score: While clearly the most obscure and weakest option included in the Cornucopia, this film earns a made-28-years-ago 4 of 10 score.

The Terminator (1984)

The Tantalizing Teaser: A young twenty-something, who will bear the savior of a post-apocalyptic world is eventually running from a killer robot sent from the future. A lone protector is sent back to help her stay alive, by her not-yet-born son named “John Connor.”

What’s to See: One of the finest science fiction films of all time. When you consider the ground-breaking story, an evolved, gritty, guerilla filmmaking look that everyone now points to as genesis of their careers, the launch of another cornucopia of famous actors and support staff and characters that continue to be approximated in movies today, The Terminator is a must-have on the film collection tool belt. The special effects also upped the ante in Hollywood that people refer back to even in our CGI-laden realm.

The Score: When lumped with the other distinguished stacks of cinema brilliance from Cameron, this earns a 9 of 10 score.

Aliens (1986)

The Tantalizing Teaser: Ripley escaped a doomed ship and was able to blow the remaining Alien out the airlock of her lifeboat spacecraft and was heading back to Earth in space-travel-sleep-induced bliss. Her craft is found by a deep space salvage team and returned to Earth – 57 years later. Gone are her family, life, and reputation. To reclaim it, she must return back to the planet her crew found the Alien eggs on to see what’s happened to the 150+ colonists that have lived there – or HAD lived there? In tow are a pack of Colonial Marines, ultimate badasses to protect her and find out what happened. Will it be enough? Nope.

What’s to See: The Lord of the Rings trilogy provided film audiences with the brilliance of forced perspective. What you and most don’t realize is that Aliens was a tour de force of forced-perspective filmmaking. Add on some of the most revered miniature craftsmanship, a copied-by-almost-all-movies-for-temp-score soundtrack, some amazing acting by people doing their first film, and some of the most memorable lines ever – you have the makings of another whole-hog classic by director James Cameron.

The Score: It’s impossible to not admit that this is the best of all of the Alien franchise films. It’s very likely that this film sits atop Cameron’s skill set as far as a showcase. The Terminator franchise has much more popularity, but this film easily scores a 10 of 10. The director’s cut of this film could easily score an 11.

The Abyss (1989)

The Tantalizing Teaser: An eclectic deep-sea drilling team finds itself sent on a salvage mission to investigate a recently downed US Submarine. Paired with a small team of crack SEALs, they find much more than they bargained for in the deep reaches of the dark confines of the Atlantic ocean – both of the terrestrial, and extra terrestrial kind.

What’s to See: The ladder of computer generated effects was originally begun here inside of The Abyss, with the  famous “water tentacle” scene. It was and still is the base element that so many gurus point to, and it was another how-it-should-be-done concoction from director James Cameron. Another ensemble cast of incredibly gifted actors is featured in The Abyss , as is the love of scuba-diving and underwater research that continues to appear in so many Cameron films.

The Score: The Abyss is a solid piece of science-fiction, reality-based filmmaking that Cameron truly has a sweet spot skill for. The relationships built, the details of the peril, the pace and overall level of talent depicted in this film are another on a very special listing of films that should not be overlooked. We give The Abyss an 8 of 10 score.

Terminator 2 (1991)

The Tantalizing Teaser: We’ve always known that Kyle Reese saved the day and prevented Judgment Day in The Terminator. Or did he? This time TWO killer robots are sent back in time, however each is programmed with a different goal: One sent by Skynet to kill John Connor himself when he was a boy. The other? Sent back by John Connor himself to protect.

What’s to See: There are so very few samples of American movie brilliance to see and revel in, but this is surely on top of the proverbial cornucopia’d list. Brilliant storytelling, career-making acting, non-stop peril, unparalleled practical special effects, and the seeds of what has become today’s CGI movement that is still referred to from the masters of the state-of-the-art CGI studios now. The soundtrack is also something of a staple and turning point where the music actually helps to enhance the story and mystique of characters. If there was a must-see American film, this is it.

The Score: Were someone else writing this up, we would tell them to shut up and give it a 10 of 10 score. A 10 of 10 score it shall be.

Continue to page 2 for Cameron’s more recent movies and what we can expect from Avatar…

With the re-release of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D around the corner, the question around town has been: What’s the next blockbuster to enter the third dimension?

If you ask the folks over at Lightstorm Entertainment (James Cameron’s production company), the answer is obvious… Titanic?

Now, before you go running for your tissue box and 3D glasses, an insider suggests one should not expect to hear any specifics announced until later next year – but you’re not going to have to wait too long as Lightstorm partner Jon Landau says, “I don’t think it’s too far into the future. We’re pretty far down the road.”

As we previously reported for all you Cameron-atics (Yeah, totally just made that up), Titanic isn’t the only film on the books for receiving the 3D treatment. In fact, Lightstorm has done 3D tests on two of Cameron’s most successful movies: Titanic and some little movie called Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

While I’m not as much interested in seeing dual Bill’s (Paxton and Zane) tackling a sinking ship in 3D, I will happily sign up to see Terminator 2 in any dimension – 2nd, 3rd or 6th. This also begs the question: is Titanic too long of a movie for 3D? I’ve heard from many people that the after a while the whole “3D Experience” becomes less enjoyable and let’s be honest… 3D doesn’t automatically equal better.

Although, Dolby has been working on converting Star Wars into 3D using their own technology, and from what I’ve heard from people that have been lucky enough to see samples of it, it looks extremely promising.

For those against all this 3D back-converting, you don’t have to worry about ALL your favorite films being dragged into the third dimension. As of right now, the most likely films to receive the treatment are family films, as they are the only films likely to recoup the costs of converting a film to 3D. CGI-animated films are also more likely to be converted, as the cost of converting a CGI film is $4 million compared to usual $8 million. I know that in the world of film $4 or $8 million doesn’t sound like much, but that’s not including the projected $25 million dollars needed for marketing.

While Disney has been the forerunner in re-releasing 3D films (“Disney Digital 3D!”) they have been hesitant to commit on further 3D releases. Disney distribution president Chuck Viane said, “We continue to look at past properties to see if we have the right vehicles for this format, but we want to see what happens with these.”

Even at Fox, distribution box Bruce Snyder said that they have “looked at some titles that we could think about maybe doing in 3D.” While nothing has been planned, Snyder is focusing more on family films, saying, “You’ve got older teens and early-20s males who are rabid about technology right now. So it has the possibility of expanding from the family audience into that audience.”

As a wearer of glasses (Yes, I’m a nerd – 1011001) for my entire life, I’ve always had problems with the “amazing technology” of 3D glasses. As the technology for producing and converting 3D is advancing, you’d really think that someone could create a better alternative than plastic glasses with tinted lens. For my entire movie watching experience I have never been able to enjoy 3D films as I spend most of my time figuring out which is less uncomfortable; Wearing the 3D glasses over or under my nerd spectacles.

With all this talk of converting movies into 3D, how do you feel? I’m a little worried, but open to it. What are some films that you’d like to see in 3D? (All I’m going to say is Teen Witch. Top that!) Is Titanic really the best prospect for 3D?

The Toy Story and Toy Story 2 3D double feature opens October 2nd 2009 and will run for 2 weeks. For those not interested in staying for both films, don’t worry, you can use your ticket to return anytime during the limited engagement.

No word yet and when we might officially see Titanic and/or T2 in 3D theaters.

Source: THR

With his 3D CGI, Motion-Capture extravaganza Avatar on the way at the end of the year, just what else has James Cameron got on the horizon? Well, how about taking some of his past movies and transforming them into 3D as well? Word is that Cameron is thinking about doing his mega-success Titanic in 3D, and maybe Terminator 2, as well.

On top of this news, we also have a brand new image from Avatar, which shows the director himself getting in on the action. Sweet.

Cameron spoke with Empire at Comic-Con recently where he gave his thoughts about his love of 3D technology. It is here that he mentioned his plan to bring Titanic to three-dimensional life:

“We’re going to do Titanic in 3-D! We’ve already done a 90 second clip of it and it’s phenomenal and gorgeous, so that’s going to be the project for next year. It’s a conversion of it, not native photography; we can’t go back.”

Cameron also went on to address the question of whether he’d like to turn any of his other past projects into 3D:

“You know, we’ve thought about Terminator 2, which could be fun because I think that’s a film that stands the test of time for me. I think that Aliens was a really good film in its time, but visually it doesn’t quite hold up; we’ve kind of evolved beyond that now. I mean, for me it doesn’t. Terminator 2, I think, is the cusp of where it still holds up, through now. True Lies, I don’t think so; it doesn’t feel right to me. Titanic absolutely, slam dunk! I want to see it!”

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It appears that Titanic is almost definitely going to be coming at us in 3D, and Terminator 2 is more of just a, “We’d love to do it,” kind of thing. Even though Cameron says the clip they’ve done of Titanic is, “phenomenal and gorgeous,” I’m still not sold on the idea – or the idea of doing any of his other projects in 3D for that matter. Would Titanic or even Terminator 2 REALLY benefit from being in 3D?

With regards to Titanic, in particular, it obviously would be pretty impactful to feel like violent waters and a sinking boat are actually in the movie theater with you. And doing a re-release in the 3D format would certainly further it’s already whopping $1.8 billion revenue at the box office.

But am I the only one who thinks Titanic is fine the way it is?…

However, there is no need to fear Ye Terminator faithful: although the series does not equal the greatness of T1 and T2, it does expand on the characters, adding new twists, as well as some key references to the films.

All in all it’s enough to satisfy fans old and new alike.

The first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles is set after the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but in an alternate timeline from Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines (though they do keep the Sarah Connor cancer subplot mentioned in T3). The pilot starts in 1997 when a new Terminator named Cromartie (since when did they give these things names?) gets sent back from the future for another attempt at John Connor, this time when he is a teenager. Of course another protector for John also gets sent back: a female Terminator that appears to be around John’s age, (sixteen or so,) named Cameron (geddit).

With Cromartie relentlessly pursuing them, John, Sarah and Cameron use a device left behind by ‘time-agents’ to jump a decade into the future. (I guess that’s how they manage to discount T3.) Arriving in 2007, the Connor family, along with their new “household appliance,” charge themselves with the mission to destroy Cyberdyne Systems, along with anyone who helped create the super computer, Skynet, before the machine uprising can begin. There’s just one tiny problem – Cromartie follows them through the time portal, and will stop at nothing to terminate John.

While I was skeptical about the quality of the show before I watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was. Lena Headey (300) makes a good replacement for Linda Hamilton, who was sorely missed in T3. Thomas Dekker is a pretty decent John Connor; for the first time we see that he could actually be a military leader, even if he still (on occasion) acts like a whiny teen. The one weak link in the series is Summer Glau as Cameron, the protector Terminator sent from the future. She just doesn’t feel like a Terminator; at times she manages it – but more often than not she appears like a cast member from the OC, acting tough.

The effects for the show are pretty good, and the future scenes due to their (relative) low budget mirror those in Cameron’s 1984 film. The music score is also first rate, bringing in themes and motifs from Cameron’s original features. For fans there is also the return of Kyle Reese (and the introduction of his brother,) which wasn’t as bad as I anticipated; the presence of Dr. Silberman (played this time around by Bruce Davision); with enough action, plot twists and continuity “Easter eggs” to keep Terminator fans (and avid TV watchers) entertained over the course of nine episodes.

I’m aware that the US Region 1 DVD has some pretty good documentaries, but they weren’t available for my review copy. However, there are a few good smatterings of deleted scenes that add to the texture of the show.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a decent addition to the Terminator cannon, surpassing T3 in terms of quality and story. The show is a must for fans, and it should keep you ticking until Terminator: Salvation hits next year. Check it out.

One caveat; as a filmmaker, I have worked with SAG in the past, employing members for a few movie projects. I have never had a problem with the union, and they were always extremely helpful in securing SAG talent for my films.

Here are the details: SAG and AFTRA’s contracts with the studios and producers (AMPTP, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) expire June 30, 2008 (yes, you read that right – 4 days from today), and there has been zero progress. The issues at hand are contract negotiations including key issues new media and DVD royalties.

There is another big issue which has kept the two unions from sitting back down with the AMPTP: fighting between the two. AFTRA has a potential deal they want to solidify by July, but SAG isn’t happy with their terms, and so there is a major battle happening between leadership and members, and there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of progress in the past few weeks.

Unlike the WGA strike, which mostly affected a lot of new productions without scripts from moving forward but allowing existing projects with scripts to continue shooting, an actors’ strike will absolutely paralyze the industry. No one can work, and a high number of movies and TV shows feature union actors, so everything will be shut down. Not to mention that actors won’t do interviews to promote upcoming movies, which will hurt the box office and affect next month’s huge San Diego Comic-Con.

So how does this affect current projects, or those in the immediate future? ComingSoon.net posted an article a few weeks ago detailing what’s happening with movies. Many films had to start by February or March so they could be wrapped before the potential strike, otherwise they’d have to wait until after a resolution is made – and many big budget movies have already been shelved. Other films, like The Da Vinci Code’s prequel, Angels and Demons, has forged ahead despite the risk of a strike. The movie was already delayed by the WGA strike, so the producers were determined to get the film into production.

I think it’s a bit risky to try and forge ahead with a production, even if there is a planned break if a strike occurs, much like what the fourth Terminator and second Transformers are planning. In fact, Transformers 2’s crew will focus on visual effects and some second unit work (except stunts, since stuntmen are covered by SAG) if the strike happens.