James Cameron
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Titanic 3D re-release scheduled for April 2012, 100 years after the ship set sail
Before James Cameron was all about 3D he did a few features you may have heard of, including some indie project called Titanic that happens to be the second highest grossing movie of all time. Now, that flick is going to return to theaters and of course, it's in 3D. He's been working on the conversion for several years and says it "will be Titanic as you've never seen it before, digitally re-mastered at 4K and painstakingly converted to 3D." This is certainly no Clash of the Titans rush job, but as much as viewers loved Leo & Kate the first time around, whether or not they fill up movie houses again on April 6, 2012 (and for the Star Wars 3D re-releases) will either lift or crush the potential for conversions and 3D movies in general.
Hitman: Absolution using 'Avatar' mo-cap tech, hollywood actors
Hollywood Reporter has managed to sneak in a few questions to IO Interactive game director Tore Blystad about the forthcoming Hitman: Absolution, and got an earful back about the development process. "We've designed a more stylized, more serious, and darker game this time around in both the story line and the visuals," Blystad told HR. Blystad also revealed that his studio employed Giant Studios for the game's motion capture -- the same studio that James Cameron used for Avatar -- and that Keith Carradine (Cowboys & Aliens) and Marsha Thomason (White Collar) will be voicing two main roles. Carradine is Agent 47's antagonist this time around, while Thomason will act as 47's handler. Blystad's betting that the theatrical approach his studio is taking to voice acting and motion capture will dovetail nicely into the next Hitman film. "The hope is that the movie will be going in a similar direction, and then when they both come out they will speak the same language," he said. In Absolution, Agent 47 finds himself on the run from police while simultaneously hunting "his most dangerous contract to date." As promised, more details will be revealed next month at E3.
'True Grit' cinematographer Roger Deakins makes jump to digital cameras
Sorry film diehards, another ally has bitten the dust -- and this one's a biggie. After years of dismissing digital cameras over quality concerns, Roger Deakins, the cinematographer behind The Shawshank Redemption, Revolutionary Road, and pretty much every Coen Brothers movie, has made the jump to digital. The-nine time Oscar nominee confessed to The Hollywood Reporter that he shot the forthcoming sci-fi thriller Now using an Arri Alexa digital camera and is leaning toward using one for his next film, a Sam Mendes-directed James Bond flick. I'm sure Q would approve -- not to mention James Cameron and Peter Jackson, assuming they can put down their respective RED EPIC cameras for long enough. [Image Credit: Sony]
James Cameron says 3D being propelled by video games
Speaking at the 2011 National Association of Broadcasters conference, director James Cameron had a lot to say about 3D display technology. After announcing the founding of his own 3D tech company, the Cameron-Pace Group, Cameron talked about gaming's role in the industry's growth. In an interview with Yahoo, Cameron sung the praises of the 3DS, saying, "Video games are going to help propel the autostereoscopic (glasses-free) play because that's going to be the entry level for most people." Cameron seems to think that the 3DS is a kind of gateway drug to harder 3D displays. He added, "These single-viewing devices that are engaging the person to play these video games will drive a lot of investment in autostereoscopic displays for that very reason." Wow, Mr. Cameron's just chock-full of good ideas! In fact, later in the interview, he said, "I'd love to do an MMORPG experience inside the Avatar universe and I would like to see it authored in 3D." Oh, no. Oh. No.
Peter Jackson shooting The Hobbit at 48FPS, should speed up those long walking scenes
Say goodbye to blurry Orcs, because The Hobbit is going 48 frames per second. King of Kong Peter Jackson announced via Facebook that the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel will be shot at an increased frame rate, double the 24FPS that has been the industry standard for the better part of a century. Halo's non-director preemptively addressed critics of the technology, comparing it to the transition from vinyl to CDs -- which, let's face it, some folks still aren't all that psyched about. The technology, when combined with a 48FPS projector, should cut down on blur and strobe. Jackson and Warner Bros. have their fingers crossed that a sufficient number of theaters will be capable of projecting at that speed when the film opens in December 2012. We're eagerly awaiting James Cameron's reaction -- and George Lucas's inevitable Star Wars re-re-re-re-release at the new speed.
James Cameron picks up 50 RED EPIC-Ms, high-fives Peter Jackson
Looks like another director's been on a shopping spree lately, as RED's Jim Jannard's just announced that he sold another 50 EPIC-Ms to one generous customer. Who's this, you ask? Why, it's James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic fame, and he's probably just blown $2.9 million on his latest stash of cinematographic toys -- it's $58,000 a pop for these hand-machined professional cameras. Details are scarce at the moment, but any educated guess would point at the upcoming Avatar 2 due end of 2014, meaning our favorite blue aliens will be returning in a healthy 5K resolution. Keep an eye out for Jannard's official announcement later this week for the full lowdown. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover stars in its very own photoshoot
NASA's already given us a glimpse at its Mars rover, courtesy of a USTREAM broadcast a few months back, but the crew over at BoingBoing has taken one small step for mankind by going even further in-depth with Curiosity before it launches in November. One lucky photographer was granted permission into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the fruits of his bunny-suited labor showcase the nooks and crannies of NASA's latest and greatest. We're still kind of bummed that the rover won't be equipped with a zoom 3D camera as originally planned, but we've got a hunch James Cameron's taking it even harder. Be sure to hit the source link for a whole smattering of more angles, if intergalactic spacecrafts are your thing.
James Cameron ponders 48 or 60fps shooting of future Avatar films, because he's trendy like that
Oh, Jameson. You trendy, trendy trendsetter. After coercing the entire world of cinema to bow down and worship the art of 3D, it looks as if James Cameron will soon be spearheading the effort to back away from the tried-and-true 24fps shooting method in favor of far faster options. The Hollywood Reporter is claiming that Cameron copped to the idea of shooting Avatar 2 and 3 at higher frame rates, likely 48fps or 60fps. The reason? It'll provide an "added sense of reality," and it'll probably create a wave of new camcorders, software and plug-ins to handle the dirty work. Onward and upward, we suppose.
NASA forced to abandon plans for 3D camera in next Mars rover, James Cameron not losing faith yet
Among the many great feats of his career, film director James Cameron counts the rather unorthodox achievement of being able to convince NASA to use a stereoscopic camera on its next Mars rover project. Unfortunately for him, us, and the hard working folks over at Malin Space Science Systems, technical snags have been encountered in the integration of the jumbo mastcam (pictured above) with the rover's hardware and the resulting delays have caused NASA to nix the idea altogether. You might think that 3D visuals of Red Planet gravel will be no great loss, but the MSSS cams also had zoom lenses attached, whereas the research project will now be returning to tried and true fixed focal length imaging. Ah well, such is the bumpy road to interterrestrial enlightenment. NASA's rover, titled Curiosity, is set to begin its voyage in November of this year, while Cameron and co remain upbeat about the future, saying they're "certain that this technology will play an important role in future missions."
Promotional tour hitting the road for Cameron's next 3D flick 'Sanctum'
It may be more than a year before Avatar is easily available for home viewing in 3D, but James Cameron's next 3D flick is already about to hit theaters. On Sanctum he's only executive producing and not directing, but don't be surprised to see his name and notes that the movie uses techniques pioneered by Avatar throughout the marketing campaign, which will include a tour hitting several southern states throughout January to show off the trailer in 3D. Scheduled to open February 4th, it's an action-thriller about a group of cave divers trapped underwater -- check out the regular 2D trailer embedded after the break.
Cameron says the Avatar extended edition Blu-ray is the last 2D release left... for reals
Wondering when the Avatar Blu-ray release madness might end? Well James Cameron thankfully clarified at a recent press event that the Avatar extended edition Blu-ray on November 16th will be the last 2D, 1080p, iteration of his Blue Man Group epic before the 3D version arrives. He also slightly adjusted his previous November 3D Blu-ray release predictions made during a Wall Street Journal interview -- stating vaguely that the highly-anticipated format would instead arrive "maybe one, [or] two years out." That's much more in line with statements made by his Fox handlers (coincidence?) and now leaves Panasonic as the only party still claiming their anointed 3DTV owners will bring the Avatar 3D Blu-ray "experience" home sometime this year. Still, while we certainly don't know who at this point would fail the polygraph, we're not Na'vi enough to ignore how Panny's time line helps attract consumers to buy 3DTVs over the holiday season. As with most rumors though, only time will tell who in this debacle had the date right, so for now we'll content ourselves watching the Alien Anthology.
Aliens Blu-ray screenshots re-stir our appetite for upcoming anthology, not a hole in the chest
Watching the Alien Anthology Blu-ray trailer definitely left us itching for the epic sci-fi collection's Blu-ray release on October 26th. But seeing Sigourney Weaver all HD'd up without an SD reference point did make it hard to tell how much effort has gone into the transfer process. Screenshots leaked on AVSForum of the Cameron-supervised remastering of Aliens for Blu-ray though show that the king of the world has clearly been busy de-graining his work to shine in 1080p. The SD to HD shot-for-shot comparison in the gallery below however does highlight some heavy use of blue filtering, hinting James' time on Avatar may have left him with permanent Navi goggles. Still, making the Alien Queen slightly more smurf-ish doesn't mean she's any less scary -- or gooey for that matter. To see for yourself, hit up the gallery below. %Gallery-104699%
Blizzard holding off on StarCraft TV or film project, unless James Cameron is interested
You may think that reading your StarCraft 2 fanfic on YouTube is the only conceivable way Blizzard's RTS could transcend the realm of video games into TV or film entertainment -- but it's actually something Blizzard has considered for a while. The possibility is predicated upon finding the right person for the job. "We've always had an interest in seeing our stuff on film or TV. It's just tricky to find the right partners," Blizzard's Rob Pardo told MTV Multiplayer. "We probably could have made a [StarCraft] movie or something on TV years and years ago, but it's really important to us that we find creative people that are really talented but also really excited about our properties. That's always been the challenge for us. I think if Jim Cameron came to us tomorrow and said, 'You want to make a StarCraft movie?' we'd probably sign that." But we wouldn't suggest getting your hopes up: the World of Warcraft movie has been in limbo for a while now, so we wouldn't expect to see a StarCraft flick anytime soon. We will concede, though, that writing a StarCraft movie has got to be easier than writing a film about millions of dudes pretending to be chicks while cybersexing at the Inn. There's just no character progression there.
James Cameron talks Avatar's theatrical, Blu-ray Special Editions
This weekend Avatar comes back for more in theaters, packing an extra 8 and a half minutes and only available in 3D. According to director James Cameron, part of the reason is there are so many more 3D cinemas now than there were before, especially internationally. If you're still holding out for the (next) home release, expect even more footage with an extra 16 minutes added onto the original cut, which Cameron hopes will help hold fans over while they work on sequels that could take years to make. Oh, and the Blu-ray 3D release? The Hollywood Reporter says that's still on hold for 2011, while Cameron & Co. hold out for a larger installed base of 3D-ready displays.
James Cameron convinces NASA to use 3D camera on next Mars mission
What do you do once you've broken your own record for the world's highest-grossing picture film? Well, you go offworld, of course. James Cameron, in his infinite benevolence and multidimensional wisdom, has convinced NASA bigwigs not to forgo the inclusion of a high-res 3D camera on the Curiosity (aka Mars Science Laboratory) rover, which is set to depart for the red planet in 2011. Budget overruns had led to the scrapping of the autostereoscopic idea, but the director-man -- who has been involved with this project for a good few years now -- felt the results of the mission would be far more engaging if people could see them in 3D. Hey, if he can make us watch the Blue Man Group reenactment of Fern Gully, don't bet on Cameron failing to make extraterrestrial rubble interesting with his 3D voodoo.
Avatar movie producer interested in Avatar MMO
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Avatar_movie_producer_interested_in_Avatar_MMO'; It probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise. James Cameron's Avatar caught the attention of gamers from the moment the first trailer was released. Its appearance alone was extremely familiar to anyone who's spent more than a few minutes in any number of fantasy MMOs, and the movie's plot centered around what could be called the most immersive MMO ever. The movie has already been turned into a single player game, and now our friends at G4TV report that Producer Jon Landau says he's "very interested" in the creation of an Avatar MMO. Before you groan in despair, hear him out. The focus doesn't seem to be on shoving something out the door right away while the money machine is still running at full speed: "it's something we'd want to do, would be very interested in doing, but we'd have to do it right. To create those worlds is sometimes a long time endeavor." Landau continues by exploring the concept of 3-D gaming -- a feature that would be almost a given in an Avatar MMO: "I think that the addition of 3-D in gaming tends to be more transformative than 3-D is to movies. [...] I think we're starting to see the start of 3-D becoming commonplace in gaming." Follow along after the jump to see the full video of Landau's talk with G4TV.
Resident Evil: Afterlife trailer promises James Cameron's cameras for the distinguishing 3D viewer
It doesn't appear that the slapdash 2D to 3D conversion seen on Clash of the Titans (or being a rather lackluster remake in general) has dimmed its box office prospects that much, but we're probably not the only ones who will be looking carefully to see what technique was used to create the next 3D movie due in cinemas. Such is the world that Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D enters, and instead of focusing on the strong story and character development featured in previous films, its trailer (embedded after the break) goes out of its way to namedrop Avatar and mention this flick was filmed using the camera techniques pioneered on our friend Jimmy C's blockbuster smash. All you have to do is say zombies and we're halfway there but even without the blue aliens, are you going to be quicker to shell out for a natively-filmed-in-3D flick in the theaters? [Via Joystiq]
James Cameron says watching films on an iPhone is "dumb"
At a press conference where he spoke about the April release of the Blu-ray edition of his latest film, James Cameron said watching Avatar on the iPhone would be "dumb." More specifically he said, "I don't feel that I'm making movies for iPhones. If someone wants to watch it on an iPhone, I'm not going to stop them, especially if they're paying for it, but I don't recommend it. I think it's dumb, when you have characters that are so small in the frame that they're not visible." So how should we watch Avatar according to the "King of the World?" He wants us to shell out for the Blu-ray 3D version coming out in November 2010, and then, "If you're going to go 3D, go big. Get the biggest set you can, and then sit as close as you can stand. That's my advice. Get the coffee table out of the way and slide the couch over, right in front of the TV." Right. Cameron isn't the first director to express his disdain for the iPhone's 480 x 320 pixel, 3.5 inch screen. A couple years ago, David Lynch ranted about the iPhone with even harsher words than Cameron, saying, "Now if you're playing the movie on a telephone, you will never in a trillion years experience the film. You'll think you have experienced it, but you'll be cheated. It's such a sadness that you think you've seen a film on your f---ing telephone. Get real!"
Avatar disc opens up online-only extras until ultimate edition arrives in November, 3D next year
Fox continues to pull back the layers of its release schedule for Avatar after yesterday's press event with director James Cameron, producer James Landau and Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers (above) as Reuters indicates the Blu-ray 3D version will arrive next year. What does 2010 hold for the most dedicated fans of Pandora? While the DVD and Blu-ray editions due April 22 will arrive stripped clean of any extras whatsoever, a registration code slipped in the case will give owners access to "The AVATAR Program" to view bonus content online, adopt a "virtual hometree" among the million being planted and other enticements to string them along connect this release with an ultimate edition due in November. Check the press release after the break for all the details and see if you can resist the urge to triple dip.
Avatar Blu-ray & DVD official for April 22, "ultimate version" in November and 3D...?
It's really no surprise, since Fox was quick to dispute Jim Cameron's prediction of November for a 3D home release of Avatar but didn't say anything about the now confirmed release of April 22 (check the press release after the break for worldwide release info) for the standard 2D DVD & Blu-ray. The L.A. Times reports we can expect one first for this version -- a new release Blu-ray movie with no trailers or promo content of any kind. No extras, no nothing, with the justification that they'll use all the space on the disc for the highest quality audio and video transfer possible. Whether you buy that one (literally or just the idea that 50GB isn't enough for a beautiful movie and a featurette or two) get your wallet ready as an "ultimate version" multi disc release is already on deck due in, wait for it... November. The "ultimate" tag might be a bit much if it can't present an extra dimension to the visuals, but we should find out more during a press event planned for March 23 featuring producer Jon Landau and director James Cameron (the Black Eyed Peas are regrettably not scheduled to attend.)
