JAMES CAMERON - "AVATAR" (a.k.a Project 880)
The self-proclaimed King Of The World is about to make his belated return to movies. Cameron is an extraordinary filmmaker with great vision and ambition. His credentials are undeniably impressive: The Terminator (1984), a sci-fi milestone that gave the world Arnold Schwarzenegger; Aliens (1986), a horror classic that earned Sigourney Weaver an Oscar nomination; The Abyss (1989), underrated underwater sci-fi that paved the way for CGI; Terminator 2 (1991), a visually stunning spectacle; True Lies (1994), enjoyable espionage action-fest; and Titanic (1997), the blockbuster behemoth ($1.8 billion, and counting...)
The chances are at least one of your favourite movies is a Cameron movie. For fans of science-fiction he's especially revered -- as Aliens and the Terminator movies are still highly regarded works that still influence pop culture in films, TV and video games.
So the fact Cameron's been absent from the multiplexes for 10 years is a crying shame. Of course, if you're lucky enough to live near an IMAX theatre, you may have caught Cameron's underwater documentaries: Ghosts Of The Abyss (2003) and Aliens Of The Deep (2005). In these movies Cameron has been experimenting with a new 3D camera system (the Fusion Camera). But this isn't some silly Spy Kids 3D-style gimmick where audiences wear glasses and the actors constantly try and poke you in the eye!
This is 3D as it has always been dreamed... and it's coming soon, if Cameron has his way... and based on plenty of on-set accounts, he tends to get his way all the time...
James Cameron is committed to bringing 3-dimensional films to the world. The technology is now there -- in fact, Cameron's Fusion Camera was used to film a U2 concert recently. But, to show the footage, cinemas need to be expensively upgraded. It will mean a massive overhaul for the industry... and such a significant change requires a seminal 3D movie that paying audiences demand to see as it was intended. So, step forward Project 880...
Ah, yes, the fabled "Project 880" -- essentially, whatever the next Cameron movie will be. Well, it now looks likely that the first Cameron film since Titanic will be Avatar -- a sci-fi love story set on a distant planet. The "scriptment" to Avatar (a half-script, half novella) written by Cameron has been circulating the internet for a few years now... but is being hunted down and wiped by Cameron's legal people. All good signs that Avatar is about to be born.
Luckily, I have read Avatar's scriptment. It is mindblowingly epic. If the written word is translated successfully to screen, this will be a massive undertaking for any director -- let alone a director committed to creating this world in 3D! But, if you've read Terminator 2's script, you'll agree that Cameron's imagination doesn't make compromises during the filming process.
I won't give too much away about Avatar, so don't worry about spoilers. It's set in a future where the Earth's ecosystems have polluted to near-destruction. Mankind exists in massively overpopulated cities. It's a nightmare for anyone unlucky enough to be born in this era. However, a glimmer of hope exists on a distant planet called Pandora - a strange alien utopia that contains a rare superconductive metal invaluable to humanity.
Our hero, Josh, learns that his twin brother was involved in a project that visits Pandora using "avatars". These avatars are genetic hybrids of humans and a primitive native race indiginous to the planet. They're expensive to create, so after Josh's brother dies... Josh is the only genetic match to "handle" the avatar. Handling basically involves uploading your consciousness into the body of this alien/human hybrid (avatar) and thus gain its great strength and athletic abilities. This is essentially the only practical way humans can survive the Pandoran environment.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Avatar introduces us to plenty of otherworldy creatures and geographic abnormalities on Pandora, as well as some impressive futuristic technology. The crux of the story is that Josh falls in love with a native alien called Zuleika and eventually sides with the natives when it becomes clear humanity's presence on Pandora will eventually result in ecological collapse. Cue a massive war between the human war-machine and the native population across epic alien vistas.
A stunning scriptment. It should make an equally amazing script. And, in Cameron's hands, the resulting film will be -- believe me -- unlike anything you've ever seen. The fact it will also be in 3D is just... mindblowing!!
After Avatar, Cameron is also hoping to film a movie adaptation of hit anime Battle Angel Alita -- about a cybernetic warrior -- also in 3D. Battle Angel Alita could also form a trilogy for Cameron, something he's never achieved (but is in vogue thanks to Matrix and Lord Of The Rings). Following that will come Dive, another romantic story in 3D -- this time set in the world of freediving (deep sea diving without equipment).
All this is very exciting news for lovers of movies. You know when a decade ends and you can't imagine movies getting much better? Well, something always comes along that changes your perception about what can be achieved. The first truly 3D feature-length movie will be the next step for movies, clearly. The sad thing is... once it happens, all your favourite 2D movies are going to look very flat visually! But I'm sure 3D-upgrades will be the order of the day. The first 7 minutes of Star Wars Episode IV has already been upgraded as a test. Imagine Lord Of The Rings, Matrix, and Jurassic Park in 3-dimensions!!
Oh yes, the King Of The World is about to reclaim his throne. Watch this space...
