Japan Earthquake Could Hurt 'Avatar 2' and James Cameron's Epic Underwater Dive

As Japan struggles to recover from this month's devastating earthquake and tsunami, the tragic natural disaster is casting another Hollywood production into jeopardy. Last week we reported that Guillermo Del Toro's monster movie 'Pacific Rim' could be facing rewrites to eliminate scenes of Japan being devastated by giant monsters. Now comes today's news that the aftereffects of the 9.0 magnitude quake could delay James Cameron's 'Avatar 2.'

Coming Attractions got the exclusive scoop from a trusted source who says that Cameron's well-documented plans to build a submersible to take him to the bottom of the Mariana Trench are now in danger. The filmmaker planned to study lifeforms in the deepest part of the ocean for inspiration for creatures in the sequel to the highest grossing film of all-time, and to shoot 3D footage for use in the film.

Those plans are now being reconsidered. The mammoth earthquake that shook the region (and moved the coast of Japan a whopping eight feet) has undoubtedly changed the landscape beneath the sea, but more importantly, aftershocks are still happening – and could continue for several years.

CA's source says those potential aftershocks are what could derail Cameron's plans – which is expensive bad news for the filmmaker, who had commissioned an Australian team to build a state-of-the-art submersible that could get him to the Challenger Deep safely. At 36,000 feet, it's the deepest spot on the planet. The submersible is already halfway to completion.

The problem is that with the threat of aftershocks and the inherent danger of traveling to those depths in the first place (it's a mile deeper than Everest is high, and the pressure is eight tonnes per square inch) there's not likely a liability insurer who will take on the risk. No liability insurance? No trip to the depths of the Trench.

If that turns out to be the case, Cameron will be forced to come up with a new way to explore Pandora's oceans in 'Avatar 2' – or he could just wait a decade until things have calmed down beneath the sea and then go and get his footage. We wouldn't be surprised if the latter path was the one he chose...

Kidding aside, what do you guys think? With the advent of computer technology, it seems like Cameron could easily create an underwater world without risking his life traveling to the depths of the ocean floor. Would you rather he just do that or would you prefer to wait for the next film so that he can implement that footage into his feature even if it means 'Avatar 2' is delayed for several years? Weigh the options in our comment section.

James Cameron: Why 'Avatar 2' 3D Will Be Better Than the Original

The director says he's working on improving technology for the sequel.

James Cameron says he's aiming for an improved 3D viewing experience on Avatar 2.

Even though many agree that Avatar raised the bar on 3D technology, the filmmaker told the Wall Street Journal he's not satisfied.

“For Avatar 2, what I’m most interested in is getting theaters to up their light level,” Cameron said. “And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems.”

Cameron said he hopes to eliminate complaints from moviegoers "about feeling sick."

"I think it’s because the image is strobing,” the director said. “That’s a function of the 24-frame rate, which has actually got nothing to do with 3D. It’s just made more apparent because the 3D is otherwise such an enhanced, realistic image, that all of a sudden you’re aware of this funky strobing which you weren’t aware of.”

Cameron added the same camera system was used on Sanctum, a film he produced that opens Friday. While it worked well for that film, he said it poses challenges for Avatar 2 because of the sequel's subject matter and locations, which include water.

Avatar 2 is scheduled for a December 2014 release.

James Cameron On The Challenges Of 'Avatar' Sequel's Underwater Scenes

By now, we're already highly aware of the fact that two more trips to Pandora are in our future. Far in our future, unfortunately, as James Cameron's back-to-back sequels to "Avatar" aren't hitting theaters until 2014 and 2015 at earliest. But while that's a bummer in some regards, it's actually a very good thing in other ways: namely, it gives Cameron extra time to work on some new tricks.

Some set up: "Avatar 2," and potentially "Avatar 3," is going to showcase the underwater areas of Pandora. In theory, that's a fantastically exciting prospect. The lush, florescent jungles seen in the first film were some of the most breathtaking locations ever put to film, and the aquatic flora and fauna of Pandora are likely to match that level of visual wonder — but there are some obstacles for Cameron to overcome, such as mastering the art of underwater performance capture.

"'Avatar' does have some underwater stuff, but it will mostly involve characters that are the Na'vi and the Avatars," Cameron Told MTV News at during the press junket for "Sanctum," which is out in theaters today. "So we have to figure out how to do performance capture underwater, which has never been done. That's a whole other problem."

Cameron is optimistic about finding a solution, thankfully, and his experience on "Sanctum" — an underwater thriller based on true events — may have helped him prepare for the water sequences in the "Avatar" sequels.

"Every time you do a project, you learn. You make the cameras better, you learn more about the procedure," he explained. "We like to build race cars and then we like to go race the race car and then we go back and work on the engine some more."

James Cameron May Shoot Avatar 2 At 60 Frames Per Second

When James Cameron sets his mind to something he does it and does it right, damn the torpedoes. Was Avatar a little weak in the story department? Of course. But visually Cameron took things to a whole new level and proved that he can still direct the hell out of some action sequences.

Keeping that in mind helps soften the blow that he may shoot the next Avatar film at 60 frames per second. The director told the Wall Street Journal that there are a couple of things he’s hoping for with his highly anticipated sequel:

For Avatar 2, what I’m most interested in is getting theaters to up their light level. And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems.


The 60fps look isn’t inherently bad, it’s just so different from the standard 24fps look we see 99.99% of the time in Hollywood films. It generally creates a “realler” look like what you see when you’re shooting home movies. Or the frame rate is used to create slow motion when the footage is played back at a slower rate.

Your first instinct, like mine, will be to scoff at the idea and write it off as one of Cameron’s crazy schemes, but you’ll soon remember that his crazy schemes usually pan out. Expect this to turn into something interesting rather than something ugly.

James Cameron To Improve 3D For Avatar 2

James Cameron has revealed that he wants to improve 3D for the Avatar sequel.

Avatar set the standard for 3D cinema when it was released in 2009 - going on to become the biggest grossing movie of all time.

And Cameron is planning to set the bar even higher when he begins to work on a much awaited sequel.

Talking to SpeakEasy the filmmaker said: "For Avatar 2, what I'm most interested in is getting theatres to up their light level," Cameron said.

"And we want to shoot the movie at 48 or maybe even 60 frames a second, and display it at that speed, which will eliminate a lot of the motion artifacts that I think are causing some people problems.

"People talk about feeling sick or something like that, and I think it's because the image is strobing," That's a function of the 24-frame frame rate, which has actually got nothing to do with 3D.

"It's just made more apparent because the 3D is otherwise such an enhanced, realistic image, that all of a sudden you're aware of this funky strobing which you weren't aware of."

Cameron is back on the big screen this week; in a producing capacity at least, with the release of new 3D adventure Sanctum.

As well as Avatar 2 and 3 in the pipeline Cameron is also set to direct Battle Angel, which is based on the Yukito Kishiro graphic novels.

‘Avatar’ sequel filming starts 2011

After waffling on the issue just a week ago, James Cameron has now committed to doing two Avatar sequels as his next film project, the studio bosses at Fox Filmed Entertainment announced Wednesday.

Just last week, in an interview with QMI Agency, Cameron said he might make another movie first while developing the sophisticated technology he believes he needs to make Avatars II and III more spectacular than the original. But he has now confirmed that he will go straight ahead with the sequels, which will be shot at the same time starting in 2011.

Release dates are tentatively set for December 2014 and December 2015.

Fox co-chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos said in a joint statement that they are excited. “We had no higher priority, and can feel no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the world of Avatar. This is a great day in the history of our company.”

Calling his work on Avatar “an epic journey,” Cameron said of his sequels: “It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company.”

Ending Scene Is Key to ‘Avatar’ Sequels: Pregnant Na’vis

“Avatar” 2 and 3 don’t drop in theaters until December 2014 and 2015, but fans of the first James Cameron film looking for hints as to what to expect may find the answer in one of the never-before-seen final scenes.

As Yahoo! Movies points out, James Cameron may have included the beginning of a new storyline in the ending of “Avatar,” even if it did not get played on cinema screens.

The “Extended Collector’s Edition,” out this month, includes a scene that plays right after the theatrical ending – and in which one Na’vi woman is shown with a belly bump, while it is being suggested that Neytiri will soon be a mom too.

After the scene that shows the Na’vis herding the humans towards their ship, seeing them on their way home, the film immediately cuts to a scene that is clearly only in the first production stages.

“Cut to somewhat jerky animation of blue children gamboling in a pond,” Yahoo! Movies writes. Since the narrator is speaking about rebirth and how the forest will heal, it’s no wonder children are shown.

“The forest will heal. And so will the hearts of the people. New life keeps the energy flowing like the birth of the world,” the voice of the narrator says.

Aside from the use of “birth” there, the images too suggest that there are little Na’vi babies on the way – and that Neytiri too will have one.

“As we hear this, Jake rises from the water clutching a fish, sees Neytiri, his bonded brain-braid soul mate, and places a hand on her tummy,” Yahoo! writes.

The conclusion can’t be but one: Neytiri is pregnant, which means the sequel (and probably threequel, too) will also include subplots with the younger generation.

“It sure does look like it. If she is pregnant, does this mean that that Jakesully’s offspring will be the center of the other two movies in the ‘Avatar’ trilogy? Whatever the answers, Cameron is reportedly keeping his mouth shut on the matter,” the same report notes.

How the Amazon Rainforest Made Avatar 2 a Priority

One of the things that didn't get as much attention as it probably should have about the announcement that James Cameron has agreed to make Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 his next projects was that, in order to convince him, 20th Century Fox made a "huge donation" to his environmental green fund. If that doesn't underline Cameron's dedication to the cause, then perhaps A Message To Pandora will. (See all of Techland's Avatar coverage)

Pandora, a 20 minute documentary that appears on the special edition Blu-Ray of Avatar released next Tuesday, is the result of two trips Cameron made to the Amazon rainforest at the invitation of the organization Amazon Watch and documents Cameron's experience meeting the indigenous and riverbank communities whose way of life is threatened by Brazil's $17 million Belo Monte Dam project - A project that would divert the flow of the Xingu River and, in the process, displace more than 20,000 people.

James Cameron heads back to Pandora

Forget Cleopatra – it's all about Pandora for director James Cameron.

Though he had hoped to direct Angelina Jolie in a 3-D biopic about the Queen of the Nile, Cameron will now have his hands full with not one, but two sequels to his 2009 blockbuster "Avatar," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The first "Avatar," starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver, told the story of a greedy corporation trying to rob the moon Pandora and its blue Na'vi people of the rich mineral unobtainium. The 3-D sensation went on to gross $2.8 billion worldwide.

"We'll continue to follow the same people on the same planet," producer Jon Landau revealed at the 3-D Media Markets conference yesterday, adding that the films could venture into new territory. "We might go underwater."

The "Avatar" sequels are set for release in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Exclusive: Jon Landau Talks Avatar 2

With Avatar's extended Collector's Edition soon to hit shelves, Empire grabbed some time with producer Jon Landau, turning up with a dream-machine and a knock-out jab to penetrate his subsconcious and extract info on the sequels. In the end we just asked questions instead, including one or two on those rumours that Avatar 2 will take us to the depths of Pandora's oceans.

"Water will be a part of the movie, but it won’t be all of the movie, " Landau told us. "There’s been a lot of rumours that it’s an underwater movie – it’s not. Just like the Floating Mountains, and the Na’vi's interaction with the mountains, were a part of Avatar, it’ll be the same type of thing."

Read into that what you will, but we can probably file a Gungan-style tribe of subsea frog people under 'unlikely'. Sighs of relief there, then. So will the sequel launch Jake Sully into orbit and on to new planets? No, says Landau. "I think the next movie will stay on Pandora. That’d be my guess. Not all the answers are there yet, but I think we’re happy with Pandora."

Landau also stressed that Avatar 2 won't leave narrative theads hanging, Hallows-style. "The next [film] will kick off where the next last one ended, but, just like Avatar resolved itself and doesn’t feel like a set-up to another movie, you don’t want Avatar 2 to feel like a set up for 3."

So with Cameron and his Lightstorm partner heading back to Pandora for the next few years, where does that leave manga adaptation Battle Angel and freediving drama The Dive? "They’re further-out projects," says Landau. "Neither one has that shooting script yet and both are really worthy projects to make."

Cameron confirms 'Avatar' sequels

LOS ANGELES -- Returning to Pandora is now a sure thing, according to James Cameron. The colourful Canadian-born filmmaker plans to direct two Avatar sequels himself, he said this week at his Hollywood studio.

"It's in progress right now," Cameron said. "I mean, there's a lot of writing, a lot of designing, a lot of tech work that we're going to do. What I can tell you is this: Our plan right now is to make II and III together as a single large production, and release them a year apart."

But the process might take five or six years.

"There shouldn't be any surprise there," he said, mocking himself. While perfecting new Avatar technology, he might make another movie first, Cameron explained during presentations to promote the Nov. 16 release of the Extended Collector's Edition of the original Avatar on Blu-ray.

Meanwhile, Cameron is writing an Avatar novel, with 30 years of back story. He also is deeply involved with eco-activist causes that solicited him after the phenomenal success of Avatar, which is driven by an environmental theme. His focus includes fighting the Alberta tar sands development, which Cameron says is "poisoning" First Nations people and creating "cancer clusters" in communities downstream from the massive oil extraction projects.

THE SEQUELS: Cameron says he wants to make sure that breakthrough technology that turned Avatar into a spectacle is now pushed forward. "We need to future-proof ourselves out five, six years to the end of the third film. So we're taking the time now."

His team is "tooling up a new facility" near his current studio just for the sequels. "It's permanent in the sense that it's designed to span two Avatar films. We're laying all the foundation work right now. Nothing is holding us back." But digital technology moves quickly, and Cameron says Avatar convinced him "there are a lot of things we knew we needed to do better." The goal, he says, is to ensure "we're not obsolete when we make the last movie."

THE NOVEL: "The novel is a big project. My idea for the novel is not a novelization -- which I hate -- where you basically just take the script and put it into prose form, and add a few extra adjectives. What I really want to do is say: 'OK, if this movie were based on a book, what would that book have been?' "

Cameron is already deep into it. The novel will end like the first movie. "I don't give you one frame beyond that. But how about the 30 years before Jake gets to Pandora?"

THE ECO-ACTIVISM: Cameron says he remains committed to select causes among hundreds he has been approached about. "We've had to be selective because we can't get involved in every single cause everywhere. Even if I devoted the rest of my life to it, we can't do everything."

He intensely researches each cause he does support, including fighting the Alberta tar sands project. The goal there is to get the Alberta government and the oil companies to mitigate the effects of pollution, Cameron says.

"It's not me," he said of his influence. "A year ago I couldn't have stood up and done all that stuff -- and nobody would have asked me to. It's really that the movie has created this kind of global consciousness around this idea that we have to do something about our relationship with nature. I'm also not, by the way, delusional that a movie can change the world. But I do believe that, if you put a foot in the right direction and then you follow up ... But I can't wait until I make another Avatar movie (to act). There are too many important things that are happening right now."

Avatar Sequel - James Cameron Plans Historical Deep-Sea Dive

The Avatar Sequel - James Cameron's next big production is already in the works in Australia. The Avatar director is planning on traveling 36,000ft to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean to shoot footage for the sequel to his 2009 block-buster.

To reach such depths, the filmmaker has commissioned engineers to build a custom vessel to explore the deep blue.

***

According to the Daily Express, the two-seater submersible will come equipped with 3D cameras to record footage underwater.

"We are building a vehicle to do the dive. It's about half-completed in Australia," Cameron said.

If the 56-year-old Oscar-winner makes it to the bottom, he will only the second ever team to do so. A navy lieutenant and a scientist took five hours to descend to the sea floor in 1960.

Will James Cameron Romance Cleopatra Before Avatar 2?

James Cameron is not a man exactly hurting for work: he has the Avatar sequel in active development, has been writing a novel set in the Pandora universe and has at least three other projects bubbling along. So when Deadline reports that Sony is chasing him to direct their epic new take on Cleopatra, starring Angelina Jolie, we raise a quizzical eyebrow and mark it down as a “possible” for now.

But apparently Sony and boss Amy Pascal are of the opinion that he’s the perfect man for the job.

We can see their point – Cameron knows how to do epic and his bigger films (you might have heard of Titanic and Avatar) make big bucks. But while Titanic was a historical drama, Cleopatra would be something else again.

And though the script was the one thing that most people felt was lacking about the ship-set disaster pic, Cleopatra comes with extra assurance – a screenplay by Brian Helgeland that is reportedly "brilliant”, deserving of epic treatment" and all about "what the Romans took from Egypt".

Jolie has been attached for a while, almost since producer Scott Rudin nabbed the rights to the source material, Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra: A Life, which de-mystifies the woman and discovers her real strengths. So, again: strong woman lead, real Cameron territory.

It’s likely to be expensive and Sony really wants it shooting next year, aiming to capitalise on its new, The Tourist-driven relationship with Jolie. The schedule might be the biggest sticking point, as Cameron would likely put his own films first. But a huge, 3D epic history with a fresh take on Cleopatra, starring Jolie, brought to cinemas by James Cameron? Surely that’d be a thing to see…

James White

Jessica Alba up for Avatar sequel

Jessica Alba has revealed she would be up for appearing in Avatar 2.

The US actress would relish the thought of working with filmmaker James Cameron again, after he gave her her big break when he picked her to star in cult TV series Dark Angel.

"He knows where to find me - I'm always available to him," she told GQ.

"If we can work together and have a successful movie and make a lot of money, then great. But most importantly, he's my friend."

Jessica, who next stars in Robert Rodriguez's Machete, added: "Career-wise, the most impactful people for me have been James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez."

The 29-year-old also admitted she felt nervous around Robert De Niro, who she co-stars with in the slasher thriller.

"It felt like I was dreaming. You work with De Niro and you suddenly feel totally different," she said.

"My heart was beating fast, I got tongue-tied, I was sweating and so nervous. But he was so sweet, and gentle, calm, quiet and kept to himself."

She couldn't resist asking him for advice: "I said to him, 'Robert, please help me, I don't want to f**k this up, please don't let me suck'."

Avatar Sequel to be Announced Soon

Talking about 3D at a technology forum in Seoul, South Korea, James Cameron said that he estimates it will take about three years to make the Avatar sequel. That's 18 months less than it took the first.

He said that the release date for the follow-up will be announced in a few months.

Cameron previously revealed that the sequel would focus on Pandora's ocean. "I'm going to be focusing on the ocean on Pandora, which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative, but it just won't be a rain forest. I'm not saying we won't see what we've already seen; we'll see more of that as well," he said.

The first film has earned a massive $2.718 billion worldwide and has sold more than 19.7 million DVD and Blu-ray discs in three weeks.

comingsoon.net

Sigourney Weaver Returning for Avatar 2?

Sigourney Weaver is returning for the sequel to Avatar? While it may surprise you at first, after you listen to Weaver explain how this can happen it does make sense. CineTVBuzz.com alerted us to the following:Sigourney Weaver is in Paris this weekend to honor Harrison Ford during the Cesar Awards (the French Oscars). She was today in the TV show "Le Grand Journal". She was asked if she would be part of "Avatar 2" and from what she said, it was clear she already talked about it with James Cameron and she surely would be part of it.

'Avatar' Sequel Is War Movie, Coming Within Four Years

While 'Avatar' ends with a battle, the follow-up is said to present a huge war but it reportedly will not be worked on soon after the first film.

Despite all the talks about the follow-up to highly-successful "Avatar" which suggested that the sequel is underway, MarketSaw has just noted that it may not come that fast. The site has claimed a source told them that the next installment for the sci-fi film franchise will be made within four years. However, it has not been known when the pre-production for this forthcoming project will be started.

About what can be expected from the second "Avatar" movie, the site further informed that it will be a full blown war. Meanwhile, it was previously reported that the sequel will not take place in distant moon Pandora. Additionally, MarketSaw reported some of the parts of the first film's script that didn't make it into the movie, will be used in the next installment.

Recently, Joel David Moore spoke to MTV that James Cameron has shared some of his ideas about the "Avatar" sequel with him and other cast members. "There have been conversations about certain ways to go," the actor who plays anthropologist Norm Spellman in the big-budget movie said, before adding "Of course nothings set in stone. I love all the ideas."

"Avatar", which was first released on December 18, 2009, follows Sam Worthington's Jake Sully who embarks on a journey to Pandora to join Avatar program and later leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. As of February 1, the film has raked in total domestic cume of $595.8 million and become the highest worldwide grosser of all time with $2.04 billion global revenue.

Is Avatar 2 Gearing Up For Pre-Production?

As James Cameron’s Avatar overtakes Titanic to become the biggest box office success of all time, winning Golden Globes and getting ready for a possible Oscar sweep, rumor has it that pre-production might be gearing up on a sequel to his 3D sci-fi epic. I have received word, from a source who has provided /Film with some good tips in the past, that technical crew members have already begun to be hired for Avatar 2.

According to the source, some behind the scenes technical crew have signed on for three to five year contracts, just in case it runs long. While I’m unable to confirm this report with a second source, this bit shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as Cameron has always said that he hopes to create an Avatar trilogy. And with the box office receipts and awards, you can be sure that Fox is pushing for a sequel. But will this really be Cameron’s next film?

James Cameron talks Avatar 2, Interviewed with Zoe Saldana

The worldwide gross for James Cameron’s Avatar currently stands at $1.4 billion, which means it is just $400+ million away from reaching Titanic’s record. Will it make it? We’ll have to wait and see. Although whatever it’s final gross there will almost certainly be an Avatar 2, as Cameron kinda confirmed last week. In a recent interview with EW Cameron spoke briefly about the sequel, and said that they even put a few scenes in the film to set up a sequel:

But not only did director James Cameron always believe that the film would be a hit — he was even planning a sequel during production. “I’ve had a storyline in mind from the start — there are even scenes in Avatar that I kept in because they lead to the sequel,” Cameron says. “It just makes sense to think of it as a two or three film arc, in terms of the business plan. The CG plants and trees and creatures and the musculo-skeletal rigging of the main characters — that all takes an enormous amount of time to create. It’d be a waste not to use it again.” Sam Worthington is already signed to play Jake Sully again, and he e-mailed EW some plot suggestions for the sequel: “Jake should have abused his avatar and be fat and unfit and demand Neytiri to get him a beer.”

In related news The Wrap got the chance to interview Cameron and Zoe Saldana (Neytiri) after a recent screening. I love this interview mainly because the interviewer just lets them talk, and as a result we have 10 minutes of the duo talking about Zoe’s casting, behind the scenes antics and James Cameron bleeding after a camera hit him in the face whilst filming.


And finally here’s a ‘making of’ video which I hadn’t seen before (even though it’s been online for a few weeks). It’s still interesting to watch even if you have already seen it, and even more so after watching the above interview.


http://filmonic.com/