Cameron Talks Avatar Redux, 3D, Titanic, Abyss/True Lies Blu-ray
In an interview with USA Today, James Cameron revealed that Fox is considering a theatrical rerelease of Avatar in the fall, possibly in an extended cut. This might affect the 3D Blu-ray release of the movie, although Cameron is still hoping for a fall street date. The Canadian filmmaker is highly enthusiastic about 3D, but he also warned the industry against the temptation to "put bad 3D in the marketplace." He is okay with converting 2D content to 3D but only "if it's done well" and preferably "driven by the artist." Indeed, he intends to convert Titanic to 3D for a theatrical rerelease in 2012. He also expects to start working soon on the Blu-ray release of The Abyss and True Lies.
Regarding 3D in general, Cameron said: "We've demonstrated that the 3D market is an extremely lucrative market and this is not a fad." Admittedly, the arrival of 3D TVs will change the situation once again, but he expected them to take a while to catch on because "there isn't enough content."
Cameron expects people will buy 3D TVs because of future-proofing. "If they're going to buy a 55- or 65-inch monitor they want to make a decision that they're going to feel good about three or four years from now. But right now we've got a content gap."
That lack of 3D content for the home can't be filled by movies, because "we can't make them fast enough. So it's going to have be filled by live production or near-live production." He revealed that live 3D television is relatively cheap; however, any visual effects work done in 3D gets "a significant uptick in the cost of production."
With theaters, the problem is the opposite: the industry is generating the content "but the screens weren't there." In his opinion, more 3D theater screens are needed because "now you're going to have film coming upon film coming upon film."
Cameron made a thinly-veiled jab at Warner Brothers for their 3D conversion of Clash of the Titans, thinking they could do in eight weeks what took several years for the Avatar team. "If people put bad 3D in the marketplace," Cameron quipped, "they're going to hold back or even threaten the emerging of 3D. People will be confused by differences in quality." The audience doesn't know if there is something wrong with the glasses, the TV or the production.
When asked if existing films should be converted to 3D, Cameron was in favor, but if it's done well. "I think it should be driven by the artist," he opined. If the director is no longer alive, the people that own the library have the right to do it, "particularly if they own the rights to all media." However, not all content can be converted to 3D economically. And "if you use some automated process or some cost-effective process for that type of programming its going to look like crap. It's like colorization looked like crap." At any rate, converted films can't look as good as if you shot it in 3D. "Think of it as sort of 2.8D," he illustrated. Regarding the time needed for a 3D conversion, Cameron guessed that six months to a year were needed "to do it right."
A 3D version of Titanic is in the cards for a release in spring of 2012, 100 years after the sailing of the ship.
As to the burning question of when Avatar is coming out on 3D Blu-ray, he said: "We're not officially announcing it right now but I'm hoping for fall." A new development is that the movie might be rereleased this fall, as there might be untapped demand for the movie in theaters because it lost many 3D screens when Alice in Wonderland opened. He and the studio are talking about putting in additional footage. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there are about 10-12 minutes of extra scenes which were cut relatively late and should be ready to add to a possible extended cut: one scene has to do with Jake Sully's avatar proving himself to the Na'vi people; the other involves a native festival during which tribe member Tsu'tey gets drunk.
In other news, during the Samsung launch event, James Cameron was asked about his future plans. Cameron confirmed that, apart from the 3D Titanic project, his other projects this year involved bringing The Abyss and True Lies to Blu-ray. That doesn't mean that both or any of those movies will be released during 2010, but at least work is going to begin on them this year.
Blu-ray.com
