Earlier today we had a chance to talk to Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau when he came to town to present some footage from the 3D version of Titanic. We’ll be posting details of that footage later in the week but Landau also spoke about 3D and the future of film.

During the presentation he gave some details away about the facility he and James Cameron are using to produce the  Avatar sequels:

We took this facility at Manhattan Beach Studios. It’s three stages, we have this office space next to it. Because we’re going to be working with a technical crew in the office space, and we wanted make them feel a part of the process, we convinced the studio to cut windows into the second floor that looked down on the stage, to make the crews feel a part of the process of what’s going on on the stage.

We also have done everything we could in the facility to ‘green’ it, to make it environmentally friendly. We put solar panels up on the roof, things like that.

He also spoke briefly about their plans to convert  some of Cameron’s back catalogue to 3D ,

I think when we’re done with the next two Avatars, it’s something that we’ll definitely go and and entertain looking at a couple of them to do. Whether it be Terminator 2, whether it be Aliens, I think Jim would like to do it.

I think, looking at other filmmakers, I know that Peter Jackson is interested in possibly going back on Lord of the Rings, I’ve  heard that Stephen Spielberg is interested in maybe going back on the first Jurassic Park. I think the key here is filmmaker involvement. I think that’s what you need to make these things work, and to do it right over a period of time. What we’re doing now is we’re creating our archival master. What we release this April is going to be, for history, the master for Titanic, and anybody who upgrades it will have that library value.

Pinewood Studios have just put up this fabulous featurette focusing on Hugo and the filming which took place at Shepperton and Pinewood Studios right here in the UK. In the feauturette which looks specifically at the studios used for filming, we also hear from Graham King who talks about Director Martin Scorsese and the ‘magician’ that he is and James Cameron who speaks briefly with Director Martin Scorsese about the 3D used in the movie. It really is a great featurette which you’ll love. Scroll down to have a watch.

Hugo stars Chloe Moretz​, Jude Law​, Richard Griffiths​, Ben Kingsley​, Christopher Lee​, Sacha Baron Cohen​, Emily Mortimer​, Helen McCrory and Ray Winstone​.

Synopsis: Adapted from the Caldecott-winning Brian Selznick​ novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” Hugo is the story of a resourceful boy who lives in a train station and teams up with a spirited young girl to solve a mystery that is based in his past and affects both of their futures.

Hugo is out in UK and US cinemas NOW!

Pretty much everyone knows by now that when James Cameron’s Avatar came out at the end of 2009, it quickly rose to become the world’s highest-grossing film at the box office – taking the top spot from another Cameron film, Titanic – turning its budget of just under $250m. into almost $2.8bn.

When you have a $250m. budget, you don’t make back more than ten times your initial investment. You just don’t. But obviously, the record-breaking Cameron is one to buck the trends.

Since its turn in the cinema, Avatar has been released in more than one edition over the past two years, earning itself the title of top-selling Blu-Ray as well, and Variety are now reporting that the film will soon be given a new release, in both HD and SD and fully loaded with special features, on Apple’s iTunes.

The release, the “Avatar iTunes Extras Special Edition,” will be the first of Fox’s films to be made available in HD on the platform, and it will be with us just in time for Christmas, from 20^th December. (At the very least, the US will be getting it then; we may have to wait a little longer for it to be available for us – I’m not too familiar on if iTunes’ library is different depending on your location.)

This new edition will let us see Cameron’s original screenplay for the film, his scriptment (a combination of screenplay and treatment), and a gallery of over 1,700 images, and it will also,

“offer interactive extras that will enable viewers to deconstruct 17 scenes in splitscreen that reveal how the f/x for the sequences were created through various levels of the performance capture and post-production processes.”

For US buyers, the HD edition is priced up at $19.99 and the SD will be $14.99, so whether we can just alter the dollar sign to a pound sign for us here in the UK remains to be seen. To promote the new release, a brand new trailer for the special edition has been put together, and it does look pretty impressive, allowing you to do things that give you a real insight into the filmmaking process.

Cameron has announced that Avatar will be getting two sequels to create a trilogy, with plans to shoot them back-to-back, and tentative release dates set for December 2014 and December 2015. And that, in turn, means that for we can look forward to The Hobbit for Christmas in 2012 and 2013, followed by Avatar for Christmas the two years following that. Something tells me we’ve got some huge Christmas box office figures ahead of us for the next four years. And that’s not even mentioning Tarantino’s Django Unchained opening on Christmas Day next year. Without further ado, though, the new trailer for the Avatar iTunes Extras Special Edition. Enjoy.

Next year’s big screen re-release of James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic in 3D is going to be one of the highlights of the year in cinema, and we’ve been seeing some fantastic things from the film already, with the first poster and trailer and stills from the film posted just a few days ago.

The film’s YouTube channel has just put up a fantastic new featurette for the film, in which we get to see the director himself talking about the restoration of the film, how it was received almost a decade and a half ago, and how he’s hoping it will be received upon its re-release now.

For the longest time, Titanic was the world’s highest-grossing film, and the first film to pass the billion-dollar box office mark, taking more than $1.8bn. from its $200m. budget, surpassed only by another of Cameron’s films, Avatar, more than a decade later.

Giving a huge boost to the careers of its leading stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, Titanic was not just a commercial success but also a critical one, jointly holding the record for both most number of Academy Award nominations and wins, taking eleven awards from a total of fourteen nominations, with its wins including, among many others, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Music, for James Horner’s beautiful score.

Some of that score plays wonderfully over this new featurette, and it really instils a sense of nostalgia as you watch it. The film will get its big screen re-release in 3D on 6^th April next year, marking the centenary of the original ship setting sail back in 1912.

And for those of you not too keen on 3D films, Cameron notes that before even beginning the 3D conversion process, he made sure that the 2D version was cleaned up to look as impeccable as possible, so fear not, for hopefully the 2D re-release will be playing in your cinema too, and you can appreciate the original version in even finer quality than when it first came to cinemas back in ’97. I’m personally really looking forward to seeing it again, having not seen it since I was a child, and I have a feeling that it’s going to do even better than the 3D re-release of The Lion King this year. Time will prove me wrong or right. Until then, here’s the fantastic new featurette. Cameron’s voice is really just a pleasure to listen to. Enjoy.

To coincide with the new trailer for Titanic 3D that was released last night, Twentieth Century Fox have released these brand new images from the movie that, to my knowledge, have not been seen before. A couple are from scenes in the movie while the other two give us an insight behind the scenes.

James Cameron’s Titanic is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, the pride and joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object ever built. She was the most luxurious liner of her era — the “ship of dreams” — which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912.

Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane among many others and is re-released in 3D April 2012.

You can’t deny that James Cameron knows how to sell a good movie! We’ve seen him do it countless times with the likes of Aliens, Terminator, Titanic and Avatar. Since he finished Avatar, he’s been working on bringing Titanic back to the big screen in 3D which sounds ridiculous but we’ve seen about 10 minutes of footage from it and it actually looked rather amazing even though it’s been done in post.

The first trailer for the return to the epic movie has just been released and although it’s not in 3D, the new remastered sound and visuals will show you what they’re hoping to achieve when it returns to cinemas to mark the 100th anniversary of the ship sinking (spoiler right there) in April 2012.

Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, David Warner, Victor Garber, Jonathan Hyde, Suzy Amis and if you’ve never seen it, where the heck have you been?!

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

I’m been pretty unenthusiastic about Disney’s John Carter. Let’s just get that straight. From the first trailer to the almost 10 minutes of footage screened at D23 this past year, I remain unconvinced.  While the work of fiction by Edgar Rice Burroughs are universally adored, and borrowed from, I have never been compelled into his world.  In fact, after seeing the trailer I have been calling it the poor mans “Avatar”.  I am fully aware the unfairness in that statement so don’t right me hate mail about how Cameron’s Avatar borrowed from the Mars novels.  I understand that the books came first.  However, in this fickle world of entertainment it sometimes comes down to who gets there first.  In that respect Avatar got their first.  The John Carter story feels very similar to Avatar in the theme that a white human finds himself on a distant planet with obligations to save the people who reside there. He also might find himself falling for the “princess” character.  Thus my opinion that John Carter won’t draw the audience it probably deserves.

In fact, Germain over at Slashfilm.com has highlighted an interesting point that Vulture brings up stating that John Carter has to earn $700 million to justify a sequel. Now, in any other circumstance I’d question why people are talking about sequels when the film itself isn’t even out yet.  It seems Hollywood likes to shoot for sequels these days as opposed to getting film #1 right. However, the Mars series is vast and I am sure the filmmakers have thought about that a few times during production.  In Germaine’s piece he states

$700 million would put the film in the top 50 highest grossing films of all time, something Stanton previously experienced with Finding Nemo. However, that’s a tough mountain to climb for a movie with an unproven lead star, unspecific title and little in terms of general audience buzz six months out from a March 2012 release.

Those last few points, however, are virtual mirrors of what people said before Avatar came out and that seemed to do pretty well. We also know that Stanton is a stickler for story and visuals, so you’ve got to be pretty confident the film will at least be good. Then there’s that Disney marketing machine, sure to kick into high gear around the holidays, that will plaster the film everywhere. Of course, that huge marketing push is part of the reason why a $250 million movie costs more like $400 million before one ticket is bought. But, if it works, it could pay off big.

Now all this seems pretty serious.  I made this Mash-Up for fun based purely on the idea that the John Carter trailer looks just like the Avatar trailer. So last night I threw this together as proof.  I have embedded the John Carter trailer first in case you haven’t seen it. Below that is my mash up which features the audio from John Carter trailer with the Avatar visuals.  I actually didn’t have to do that much editing to find the right parts to fit.  In fact some of them are pretty organic. My favorite bits are when Jake Sully is parrying Quarritch. You actually hear the sword sound.  Again, later in the trailer, the power loader machines are rolling out of the cargo ship and the John Carter audio lends itself perfectly for that.  This was just fun to do and proves my undying love for Avatar.  Bring it on John Carter.

What Do You Think?

James Cameron’s Avatar became an unprecedented global success when it was released at the end of 2009, going on to earn more than two and a half billion dollars from its $250m. budget. To be able to take ten times your budget when you’re starting off with that kind of money is utterly insane by any standards.

Since its release, it’s continued to earn ever more money with more than one DVD/Blu-Ray releases, and a final 3D Blu-Ray release is still on the cards somewhere down the line.

THR are now reporting that the Avatar brand – because that really is what it’s become – is now developing even further afield, moving into theme park territory. The first Avatar-themed “land” will be built at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and construction is expected to have begun by 2013.

“The first Avatar attraction will be inside the Animal Kingdom park. Disney said this was chosen because “with its emphasis on living in harmony with nature, Animal Kingdom is a natural fit for the Avatar stories, which share the same philosophy.””

Cameron and his producing partner Jon Landau will be on board as creative consultants and will be working alongside Walt Disney Imagineering and the famous Disney Imagineers to design the Avatar attractions, with plans to develop similar projects in the several other Disney parks across the globe.

““Avatar created a world which audiences can discover again and again and now, through this incredible partnership with Disney, we’ll be able to bring Pandora to life like never before. With two new Avatar films currently in development, we’ll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore,” said James Cameron. “I’m chomping at the bit to start work with Disney’s legendary Imagineers to bring our Avatar universe to life.  Our goal is to go beyond current boundaries of technical innovation and experiential storytelling, and give park goers the chance to see, hear, and touch the world of Avatar with an unprecedented sense of reality.””

And of course, Cameron has already announced that he has two further Avatar films in the works, with release dates currently scheduled for December 2014 and 2015, which will undoubtedly do wonders for ticket sales if the attractions can be finished in time – and Disney will likely make sure that they are. Disney’s theme parks are visited by millions upon millions of people every year, and they’ll soon be given the chance to go into the world of Pandora and see, hear, and feel it like never before.

When Walt Disney was creating Disneyland back in the 1950s, he started a TV show that ran simultaneously with the park’s construction, and millions of Americans invited Disney into their homes on a weekly basis to see how the development was going. When it finally came time to open the park, for those first visitors, it was precisely like seeing the things from their television screens back home in real life with their very own eyes.

If Cameron, Landau, and Disney’s Imagineers can pull this off well, and there’s no reason to suggest they can’t, future visitors to the park should be able to experience the very same thing as those first visitors more than fifty years ago. Pandora is an incredibly beautiful world in the Avatar films, and even though I’m not sure I’ll ever go myself, I can imagine seeing it in “reality” (for you could argue the extent to which Disney theme parks are “real”) would truly be something.

Reviewing this box set when it is out in stores and in all probability snapped up by eager Star Wars fans seems a little unnecessary. The promise of a shiny high def transfer and the long awaited deleted scenes from the Original Trilogy conspire to tempt you to part with your cash once more, to enjoy the long time ago all over again.

But there’s a problem. A wave of negative reaction to some of the changes made by Lucas for this box set became clear a few weeks prior to the release as rumours of some important scenes ruined by needless additions and more handy work by the CG Replacement Bureau. Then video clips were uploaded to confirm the changes and boycotts were threatened and those unhappy with the Special Editions and 2004 DVD ‘improvements’ found new voice and dusted off their VHS copies and chided those who had their pre-orders booked.

So, who’s right? Are the changes too much for those who loved the originals, or is the HD transfer and wealth of extras enough to make the purchase worthwhile? As with many things, both are right, from a certain point of view.

We’ve already looked back over the films this past week in our Video Vault series, so if you’re looking to find out more about Episodes I to VI then click here to read them; there is an assumption that you’re not going in totally blind here. If you’ve never seen the films at all and can spare the cash then this box set is an instant recommendation – just make sure you watch them in the order they were made, don’t be tempted to start your journey to the dark side and out again with The Phantom Menace.

The more pertinent question is perhaps asked of those who already own the DVD set (and probably the VHS copies as well): Do I need to buy this set too?

The HD transfer is most obvious in Episodes IV to VI, and what I found strange were the additions for the 1997 Special Editions and how they showed their age. The advancement of computer technology is so rapid and is  noticeable when some of the visual effects which impressed in the late nineties now look very out of place. The additions to Mos Eisley are not as polished as the 1977 footage, with some very messy compositing of the newer elements over the old and some problems with the focus in certain shots. It surprised me as the original footage looks incredibly sharp for the most part, occasionally there is a very muddy shot in between the crystal clear original footage which itself isn’t completely free from problems.

Looking on the positive side there are moments when I saw things I had never seen before, and I’ve watched these films a lot. In truth I’ve never seen the sparks that fly off the colliding lightsabers in the duel between Vader and Kenobi. At first it looks a little like CGI sweat and it may have always been in there but this was new to me. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new scream to scare off the Sandpeople is a strange addition to those of us who have known the original but isn’t a huge offence overall. It was a genuine thrill to see the detail and the dirt of the first film in particular, not least in contrast to the clinical green-screenery of the prequels; the forests on the moon of Endor look lush and verdant and the ice planet of Hoth is so sharp you could shave a Wookie with it. The occasional transfer quirks aside this is the most beautiful version of the films we’ve seen and when I first saw the discs at the Big Screen event I was sold.

The additions will irk some, and infuriate others. I’m sure a lot of people may not even notice the newly CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace or question Vader’s new, and controversial, cry of ‘Noooooooo.’ just before he saves Luke from the Emperor’s final attack, but you’ll know which applies to you. In all honesty the films remain some of the most exciting science fiction films we have and they have never looked better. I’d question the need to buy this new set if you already have the DVDs and aren’t too fussed about the HD, but as we’ll see there is a reason to keep your old copies around even if you do.

The menu system on the main discs are simple and won’t blow your mind but they are a vast improvement over those found on the three discs of extras which invite you to select a film, then a location (Tattooine, Hoth, Bespin etc) and then to select a category (interviews, deleted scenes etc) and then a further click to play them. It’s not fun to navigate this menu every time you want to see a particular special feature. The interviews to introduce each film’s extras are short and drawn from cast and crew and are a nice addition. The deleted scenes are a lot of fun, with the early scenes of Luke and Biggs on Tattooine being the most substantial. The scene with Han and a female companion in the Cantina is here, as is an extended scene in the land speeder with Luke and C3PO searching for R2D2 and while most of these have been seen before on various multimedia releases it’s good to have them all in one place.

What I alluded to earlier about keeping the DVDs handy is one of the more puzzling elements of this collection as the deleted scenes for the Prequel Trilogy do not include those found on the DVD releases. This is a strange omission and a real shame, nice though it is to see a brief cameo by Dominic West as a Naboo guard pushing over a defeated Battle Droid there were some substantial scenes excised from the original cut that would have fitted alongside the new scenes perfectly. Maybe there’s a definitive box set coming our way – maybe when the 3D version are put out…

When I was a kid the only way you could have Star Wars in your own home was as part of the documentaries made and televised at the time of release of the Original Trilogy films. These are included on the final disc of extras and proved a highlight for me as I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Also included, and perhaps the most intriguing extra, on the disc was The Masters – a discussion of the making of The Empire Strikes Back with the late Irvin Kershner proving a wonderful guide through the difficult second movie.

So in the end I was won over by the new transfer and the decent, if limited, set of extras. If you have the DVDs and are annoyed at the constant tinkering by Lucas then be warned – this won’t light your saber. If you’re a fan and want to see Star Wars in the best way possible then the choice is clear. The galaxy far, far away has never looked better.

A long time ago, in a living room far, far away (well, Elgin), I remember sitting down to watch Star Wars for the very first time. Now, twenty-odd years, a full franchise and hundreds of pounds worth of merchandise later, I am sitting down to watch it again in anticipation of the saga’s encroaching release on Blu-ray.

The problem with Star Wars, however – and there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type – is that it doesn’t feel like a movie. It feels like so much more than that. A childhood spent mimicking the sound of a YT-1300 light freighter (not) making the jump to lightspeed; the rush of endorphins that dutifully follows the recitation of the series’ theme music, a deep conviction that Han Solo shot first, and a general aversion to any religion which doesn’t grant you Force powers and a complimentary lightsaber. It’s a part of who I am.

And it all started here: in garish yellow print before a jaw-dropping pan through space, right into the centre of a heated exchange between an asthmatic masked invalid and a princess of dubious nobility. Right in the centre of the action are two droids – the heart and mouth of a franchise that is taking its first gasps of life. R2D2 (Kenny Baker) and C3PO (Anthony Daniels) – or The Simpsons’ gay droids from Star Wars – are given a message meant for Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness) and carted off to the nearby planet of Tatooine, where they are quickly captured by a gang of intergalactic hoodlums and sold to a young farm-boy (Mark Hamill) and his Aunt and Uncle.

When Darth Vader (David Prowse) and Darth Vader’s voice (James Earl Jones) realise that precious information has been leaked, he sends his gleaming white Stormtroopers in search of the escaped droids. R2D2, determined to complete the mission set him by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and deliver the plans to Mr. Guinness, leads Luke Skywalker and C3PO away from the farm moments before his relatives are searched and killed by Stormtroopers. United in the desert, Alec Guinness tells Luke that he once knew his father, having fought with him in the Clone Wars (you had to be there…or maybe you didn’t) as Jedi Knights.

With nowhere else to go, Luke accompanies Alec, along with chauffeurs Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to the planet Alderaan aboard Han’s ship, the Millennium Falcon. Finding the planet in ruin, literally, they encounter a fighter ship nearby and inadvertently follow it into range of a giant, moonlike structure’s tractor-beam. Captured by this Death Star, Luke and Han discover that the princess is being held captive and is to be executed. Setting out to save her while Alec Guinness disables the space-station’s tractor-beam, they run afoul of a group of Stormtroopers and are forced to make an immediate escape. Fleeing aboard the Falcon, minus Alec Guiness who was killed in battle with Darth Vader, our heroes are followed back to a rebel base on Yavin IV, where they are forced to stand up to the Death Star before it can attack, and destroy Vader’s Empire once and for all.

As if you didn’t know. Star Wars, and this original film in particular, has punctured public awareness and dominated pop culture like no other. Phrases like “May The Force be with you”, “These are not the droids you’re looking for” and “The regional governors now have direct control over their territories” (OK, maybe not so much) have become common-place, almost independent of their source. While Trekkies hid in their basements, practising their Vulcan nerve pinches and sharpening their home-made bat’leths, the masses embraced Star Wars completely, as the droids left their mark on the Hollywood walk of fame and Jedi even became a practised religion in its own right.

A beautifully organic high-concept that kicks the traditional fairy-tale into orbit, George Lucas created a film that speaks to people of all ages, helping to form the blockbuster concept and inspiring a generation of filmmakers to pick up the mantle. The film’s legacy is incredible, not only making way for another five instalments but sowing the seeds for Pixar (through Industrial Light and Magic) to later reap, patenting a lived-in future to be fervently mimicked by everyone from Ridley Scott and James Cameron to Joss Whedon, as well as instigating  innumerable other stylistic and technological innovations without which modern cinema couldn’t conceivably exist.

While there may be naysayers who claim Star Wars to be derivative, poorly written and over-blown (and who may, dare I say, even have a point), there is no denying that Star Wars is much more than the sum of its parts. Taking characters from The Hidden Fortress (1958), scenes from The Dam Busters (1955) and elements of the setting from Dune, Lucas has nevertheless worked his influences into something endlessly compelling, beautifully realised and utterly timeless; something that has inevitable gone on to pay its own dividends in terms of homages (take a bow, Robot Chicken and Family Guy). Star Wars may just be a kids movie, a Saturday morning matinee in the vein of Flash Gordon, but it’s so rewatchable, so entertaining and so completely majesterial that that is of no consequence whatsoever.

Laying foundations that will be built upon (and…well, the opposite of built upon) by its two sequels and three prequels, Star Wars has continued to represent the very best in sound design, special effects and blockbuster filmmaking, overcoming its flaws with an inherent quality that is perhaps best evidenced in John Williams’ continued loyalty to the  franchise. Say what you will about clunky dialogue (who wouldn’t have a bad feeling about this?!), infantile comic relief (BUT SIR! C3PO remains my favourite character) and Lucas’ incessant tinkering that accompanies every re-release (OK, I’ve got nothing), but only a crazy person could find fault in a film which has brought us Williams’ titanic ‘Main Title’ and iconic score (‘The Imperial March’ didn’t come until later, the unmatched ‘Dual of the Fates’ until even later still).

But, whatever Star Wars means to cinema, however much money it made George Lucas (at last count: lots) and regardless of how thankful James Cameron is that he was spared a career as a truck driver, I will always remember Star Wars as that little film that blew my mind. For years all I wanted was to be a Jedi, a Corellian spice smuggler, or, Hell, a Jawa if I flunked school. I loved Star Wars like I’d never loved a film before, and continue to love it to this day. Seriously, just ask my lightspeed impression, it’s very convincing.

@popcornaddict

It was rumoured for some time that Justin Lin’s next big screen project would be an attempt at getting the Terminator franchise back on track with a returning Arnold Schwarzenegger, however Indiewire’s The Playlist are exclusively reporting that Lin’s next project will be a sixth entry to the Fast and Furious series.

Lin met with both James Cameron and Schwarzenegger and he still appears to be the director of choice for the next terminator feature but given Schwarzenegger’s priorities resting firmly with his role in The Last Stand for some time which frees Lin up to return to the franchise that has made him such a sought after director.

Lin has reportedly also had conversations regarding directing a Highlander re-boot as well as Die Hard 5 but passed on both of those, with Lin hinting at lack of creative control being the main reason, although he will act as executive producer for Highlander. It’s great to see a director refusing to accept a job unless he’s allowed to make the film according to his vision.

Given the massive commercial success of Fast 5 as well as a warm critical response another instalment to the series was always going to happen, and it’s pleasing that Lin will be at the helm once again.

Without spoiling too much; the end of Fast 5 did hint strongly at a continuation of the series and it would appear that the film will focus more on the heist element rather than the street races that helped establish the franchise. Given the fact that Fast 5 is the strongest instalment this makes sense.

Regulars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker will return alongside Dwayne Johnson and the film has been pencilled in for a release date of 24^th May 2013 so there’s a bit of a wait.

As always we’ll bring you updates as and when they become available.

Much is riding on James Cameron’s return to Titanic.

The painstaking conversion of the director’s 1997 film is moving ahead and until today the general public had not had the chance to see Titanic in 3D. During the Fox panel we were treated to a few scenes from the new version of the film, and though our liveblogging was interrupted by the security team at the O2 arena we’re now able to tell you what we thought of what we saw.

In short it was the most impressive post conversion work we’ve seen, and to put this in context after I had dashed from the Fox panel to interview ILM Digital Artist John Goodson and Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George the question was asked about the 3D Star Wars (they were not working on it and had no updates to offer) their eyes lit up at the new that the Titanic 3D footage had been screened. There are a lot of eyes on this one.

The film is set to be released next year on the 100th anniversary of the disaster, and though a cynical reading will see only James Cameron’s pockets having to be reinforced to take the extra large wallet he’ll need, it is true that there are a lot of people who were too young to enjoy the fourteen year old film in the cinemas. If (when) this film makes another billion or so you can bet that Fox and Lucasfilm will look to Star Wars and perhaps beyond to add a third dimension to their most well known products, though this may mean a 3D Howard the Duck so don’t get too excited.

The first piece of 3D Titanic we saw was of the Southampton shipyard with the crowds waiting to board and there was an instant recognition of the scene and appreciation of the work Cameron’s team had done to add depth to the bustling crowds. In complete contrast to the 3D trailer to The Darkest hour we saw earlier as part of the panel (which looked like a moving Viewmaster parade of someone’s holiday snaps) the layers were subtle and the movement in the busy scenes rendered wonderfully. The moment when Kate Windlet’s Rose steps out of the car and the camera moves down as she raises her hat to reveal her face looked stunning. It could have been made in 3D – that’s how good it was.

Key scenes followed, the meeting of Jack and Rose in First Class with the famous sweeping staircase looming larger than ever, the raucous dancing scene in steerage looked like it wasn’t completely finished with a few too many bodies moving in front of the actors as the dancers swirled round making the 3D effect a little uneven initially. The sighting of the iceberg (which includes the wonderful delivery of “Oiceberg! Roight Ahead!”) looked fine above deck, the darkness making the 3D less obvious but when the message to reverse the ship goes down to the engineering decks it is a whole other story. The giant pistons coming to a halt and then pumping reluctantly backwards made for an incredible sight.

We were also treated, of course, to the scene when Jack takes Rose up to the front of Titanic, holds her arms out and – well you know the rest. Looking over the two leaning over the edge of the ship with the water flowing past far below looked as if it was made for 3D and you can imagine there are many other moments which lend themselves to the extra dimension. We also saw the final plunge of the boat while it is vertical in the water. As this was again at night the effect was dulled slightly but Cameron’s camera makes great use of the scale of the ship and the footage proved two things: first that Titanic is still a spectacle and though it has been parodied and mocked since its release it will enter cinemas again and cast its spell over the audience and secondly that 3D post conversions have now reached a stage when it will convince studios to go back and to tinker with their most valuable films, giving them a shiny new dimension and the perfect excuse to send them packing back to the cinema screens.

After seeing some of Titanic 3D I far less of a problem with this than I thought. Now – tell me that The Wizard of Oz is getting a 3D makeover and it may be a different story. We’ll see…

Some of you will be aware of Brian May’s extra curricular activities which he has pursued throughout his axe-grinding antics with 70’s/80’s legendary rock outfit Queen.

A lover of astronomy, he initially abandoned his physics doctorate to forge a career in rock. Throughout the years however, May has co-authored various research paper and publications on the subject and in 2008, he finally completed his PhD thesis in astrophysics.

What is perhaps less obvious is May’s lifelong passionate of stereophotography (3-D imaging). He has been collecting photographs and images from as far back as the Victorian era since he was a child (a 2009 book he co-wrote, A Village Lost and Found, features the work of English stereophotography innovator TR Williams) and is the presenter of a documentary commissioned for Sky 3D, Brian May’s Brief History of 3D, which is being shown on July 7th.

A fascinating glimpse into the world of 3D (which has seen a huge resurgence of late), May talks to a number of trailblazers in the professional, including one of the medium’s biggest advocates, James Cameron. But May is equally enamoured with what has come before, and aside from the aforementioned 18th century stereophotography, we get a peek at the work from an early innovator of cinema like Georges Méliès, who used 3D in more rudimentary form. Later, schlocky exploitation pictures (which did more harm than good in the development of 3D) are covered, including the hilarious-looking 1980 western Coming At Ya! which, in staying true to its title, appears to have objects hurtling towards the audience at every available opportunity.

Alongside a couple of other journalists/bloggers, HeyUGuys were fortunate to be given the opportunity to spend some time in the company of the guitar legend (and some key figures behind the documentary) after the screening.

He was asked about the resilience of 3D:

“Yeah, it’s a bouncing ball really isn’t it? It has such a history of being abused that it’s had a hard time, but the magic that you get when it’s done right is just indisputable. When you reach the end of this documentary and you start to feel comfortable with all those images, it’s just a joy and I think you get to a point when you forget about the medium in those sequences and you enjoy that feeling of complete reality.”

Talking about the early stereographic images from his recent book:

“It’s actually more than countryside – it’s a document about the way people lived in harmony with the countryside. The book was a real labour of love and a big part of 30 years research, but that document by TR Williams is about one little village, but its also about the people and their dreams and the way they interact with each other, the animals, and the land. It was a real dream for me to bring that into the 21st century.

When viewers see the documentary, they’ll have to use a pause control because the richness of some of those images is astonishing. You could spend an hour looking at one of those village scenes and not get bored.”

On his early dalliances with the medium:

“I’ve got stereoscopic pictures I made at the age of ten. I released if I used two cameras I could create them myself. Much later on I realised there were actual stereo cameras available on the market and I started collecting them, but it’s the images that really get me. I have tens of thousand now mainly from that first flush in the 1980’s, and 40 plus years later on from collecting them, I still find them.”

On whether he’s ever used 3D cameras to record events in the other aspects of his career:

“I’m doing it all the time really. Following the book that I put out, which I actually designed and manufactured a stereo viewer to go with it, I’ve currently been working on some set of cards to go with the viewer and one of the sets is astrology.

I carried a 3D camera throughout the Queen years so I have quite a good collection of stuff. 3D pictures of myself, Freddie, Rodger and John doing various things, on and off stage. I’m working on getting them released.”

On what surprised him during his journey in producing the documentary:

“I hadn’t seen the Méliès stuff. I was pretty amazed by that. I was quite sceptical initially, but when I saw it all synced up its truly amazing stuff. I was a fan of his work anyway, and we used some of his stuff in our [Queen] videos.

Does he still get that same sense of wonder when watching the latest 3D as he did with the stereographs as a child?

“Totally. I still get that buzz. I think it’s wonderful. One of my favourites on the big screen is How to Train Your Dragon. It’s beautifully shot and technically it’s flawless and everything else like story and plot is handed really well. I think it’s a breathtaking film.”

Brian May’s Brief History of 3D is showing on Thursday 7th July at 10.00pm on Sky 3D.

As The Beatles (almost) sang – It was Twenty Years and one day ago today when James Cameron unleashed Terminator 2: Judgment Day on an unsuspecting world.

The film would prove to be a defining moment in the sci-fi and action genres and the work done by ILM’s Dennis Muren and the legendary Stan Winston not only holds up today but serves as a pivotal moment in on-screen effects.

Thankfully though there was far more to the film than some stunning effects work. This is arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s finest screen role, different enough from his first incarnation in Cameron’s The Terminator and far more complex than any of the actor’s subsequent dalliances with the family friendly fare of Twins, Kindergarten Cop and the execrable Junior. Cameron also hangs the entire film on the broken family dynamic between Sarah and John Connor, and the emotional power of the film come journey’s end and the fate of unexpected surrogate father figure is entirely earned.

As the film’s legacy has been more than a little tarnished by the next two films in the series I thought today we’d look back at how the film was produced, unveiled and received by audiences and critics back in the day. I’ve collected a number of videos from around the web which, while focusing on the VFX, give a good indication of how James Cameron surprised and delighted audiences two decades ago.

First up is a low-res on the set featurette which has some candid moments with the focus on James Cameron’s directing technique (a choice quote has him proclaiming that he hates being the centre of attention), the usual banter and some pretty terrifying demonstrations of the model work from Stan Winston’s team.

The next video is a short clip of Stan Winston himself talking about the process of creating the effects, and it’s interesting to hear him talk about a time when visual effects were starting to show the potential to overtake the practical side of things. Winston’s genius is compounded by his desire to get things right, whoever creates the effect.

A slight change of focus here as I’ve included Siskel & Ebert’s review of the film, which is unreserved in its acclaim.

Keeping on the theme of the pioneering visual effects here’s a three part documentary of the creation and ideas behind the CGI work. Foreshadowing Avatar and the technology catching up with the imagination of the director, Cameron talks about having the idea for the liquid metal Terminator during the first film and, once claymation was deemed unsuitable, the work on The Abyss paved the way for the T-1000.

Here’s the original trailer,

And here’s the famous music video of Guns N’ Roses You Could be Mine in which Arnold Schwarzenegger has the chance to blow seven shades of Sweet Child O’ Mine into Axl and his crew…

And finally there’s a bit of an oddity from Youtube user rymdreglage whose video for the track Anatoliy Shishkov features an eco-unfriendly tribute to the film.

Making a movie about a cave diving expedition sounds like a treacherous, expensive, and most likely exhausting feat. Yet, the risk factor is, paradoxically, what attracts filmmakers – the more adventurous they are, the more they’ll get the difficult shots and complex sets and equipment as means to shine.

Perhaps this is just what drew daredevil James Cameron to produce Sanctum. But while difficulties do turn into opportunities when you know how to use them, sometimes hard work is just not enough.

Sanctum tells the story of a cave diving team headed to explore the least accessible, most daunting cave in the world, only to find themselves in serious trouble when nature refuses to behave and a storm ends up effectively trapping them underwater. Panic ensues, along with a stream of previously buried relationship issues, rivalries, and plain old egotistic displays which destroy the divers’ plans of survivals – and also make the viewer wonder why such a broken team has taken on this delicate and dangerous mission in the first place.

It’s human nature – the movie tries to tell us. Yet, the behaviours, feelings and interactions that would make us accept this explanation don’t have the depth and weight required to be truly emotionally effective – simply because the setting and the material effort to visually render this unusual adventure take over everything, effectively undermining the character development in favour of impressive underwater shots and unsettling scenes of danger and destruction.

The actors try hard enough, but their lines are so clichéd that they end up creating a cheesy collage of heard-it-all-before expressions (“He doesn’t play by the rules” is a painful one of them) and soulless attempts to adhere to accepted social values – for instance when the script requires father and son to resolve their conflictual relationship before either survives.

The movie is detailed and well researched – at least to the untrained eyes of the average viewer, who, however, will also coincidentally get confused and distracted by too many technical details and too little chances to actually empathise with the protagonists, no matter how clear their local cinema’s 3D glasses are.

Simple as that, no amount of technology or breathtaking views can instill soul and meaning into a movie that doesn’t have much of either to begin with. Sanctum succeeds in inspiring feelings of claustrophobia, breathlessness, and maybe an urge to run out of the screen and cancel your scuba diving trip, but these are pretty much all the emotions you are going to experience.

**~~~ (2/5)

James Cameron has a thing for water. And almost-impossible-to-film storylines…this time, he’s done it again: he’s the producer of Sanctum, a new movie about a cave-diving team having to face their worst fears when they get stuck inside the least accessible cave in the world.

I had the chance to speak to the lovely Alice Parkinson, who stars in the film in the role of strong and tomboyish Victoria. Alice gave me an interesting insight on gruelling training, learning to dive and filming underwater.

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HeyUGuys: Sanctum is a high tension movie and your role is very physical and demanding. What did you think when you first read the script – where you a bit nervous, or just excited?

Alice Parkinson: Excited, most definitely. With that kind of story, I knew it was going to be hard work and gruelling – and it was. But I was excited.

HeyUGuys: What was that attracted you to this role in particular?

A: Well, I think the fact that Victoria is such a strong woman definitely attracted me to the role. There’s not many strong women in cinema, so many times female roles have a “secondary feel” to them. Victoria is not like that  – she’s “one of the blokes”, and that was very interesting to me.

HeyUGuys: What was the most difficult thing you had to do during shooting?

AP: Well, learning how to dive, for sure. I was familiar with water sports- it’s a thing that comes with being Australian I think – but I wasn’t a diver before, so that was a massive learning curve for me, especially when going from scuba diving to using a rebreather [a device that enables you to recycle your own carbon dioxide so you can stay underwater for a long time]. Using the rebreather was definitely a strange thing to do, and difficult as well.

HeyUGuys: Do you think you’d have acted in a similar way to Victoria if you’d found yourself in her situation, or do you think you’d have had a different attitude?

AP: No, I think I would have had a totally different attitude! I wouldn’t have worn a wetsuit, for one thing. That was a thing I really struggled with. Victoria refuses to wear a wetsuit that belonged to a dead person, but not wearing one means you can die of hypothermia. I wouldn’t have worn one anyway!

Really though, I wouldn’t have gone in the cave in the first place. It’s crazy! But I think one of the things that the film does is to show what people do in emergency situations that they wouldn’t do in their normal lives. You can do stupid things when you’re faced with difficult situations. I guess one can look at the story as an attempt to show people making decisions in stressful situations, decisions that they would never make otherwise.

HeyUGuys: You said you had to learn to dive during shooting. How was that?

AP: Well, you have to love the water in the first place, that’s for sure.  Then you need to trust that you have competent people looking after you, and they were all fantastic. I think it is, most of all, a psychological thing: you think “human beings can’t breathe under water” – I kind of had to switch this flip in my head and start thinking that human beings *can* do that, that I could do that, and it was going to be ok. At the end, the constant contact with water becomes kind of pleasurable. It’s a huge thing, but I definitely had to switch this flip and think in a different way.

HeyUGuys: Sanctum is going to be shown in 3D. It seems 3D is being applied to a lot of films nowadays – what do you think of this? Can it really be extended to all genres and plots, or do you think it works best with films like Sanctum?

AP: The technology hasn’t come far enough for me to give a definitive answer – I think if it reaches the “no need for glasses” stage it will be more accessible for sure. But as things stand, I think it lends itself well to certain genres – adventure, high tension movies, etc. I’m not sure how much 3D would benefit a romance, for example- but it is definitely an amazing technology which can do a lot of things.

HeyUGuys: Have you had the chance to talk a lot with James Cameron? What can you tell us about that?

AP: Yes, yes I did. We had many conversations- he is a very laid back and caring individual, and very interesting to speak to. I hope to have the chance to work with him again very soon.

HeyUGuys: What are you working on at the moment?

AP: I’ve got a couple of films coming out – one is called Bait, which is, ironically enough, another water movie! I can’t stay away from it, it seems – I had to jump back into the water…

And the second is called The Cup, which it’s a beautiful Australian film, with Brendan Gleeson and directed by Simon Wincer. It’s based on true events during the 2002 Melbourne Horse Race, events that stopped the nation – a real family tearjerker drama revolving around the story of the winner.

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Sanctum is released on DVD and Blu-ray 13th June and you can pre-order your copy here.

This video is completely brilliant and had be laughing throughout just through the way that it’s cut together and the quite staggering number of times that the words, ‘Jack’ (Leonardo DiCaprio) and ‘Rose’ (Kate Winslet) are mentioned in James Cameron’s epic movie, Titanic.

The chaps over at FilmDrunk (and thanks to LiveForFilms for the heads up), have created this montage of every single time the two names are mentioned in the movie. You simply have to guess who’s name is mentioned the most! It’s a bit of fun for a Friday afternoon and we think you’ll love it.

The video has been edited together by Oliver Noble and must have taken him forever!

Enjoy!

Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment have just announced via Deadline that James Cameron’s epic movie, Titanic will be released back into cinemas, will be digitially restored and in 3d to mark the Centennial Anniversary of the Titanic disaster.

The movie will be released worldwide on April 6th, 2012.

More info below in the official press release.

HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 19, 2011) – Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment jointly announced today that James Cameron’s “TITANIC” will be re-released worldwide on April 6, 2012.

The release, which marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic setting sail (April 10th), will present the film in 3D for the first time ever.

Written, directed and produced by Cameron, “TITANIC” is the second highest grossing movie of all time. It is one of only three films to have received a record 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director; and launched the careers of stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Called “A spectacular demonstration of what modern technology can contribute to dramatic storytelling” by Variety upon its release in 1997, the long in the works 3D conversion is being overseen by Cameron and his Lightstorm producing partner Jon Landau who produced the hit movie.

Said Cameron, “There’s a whole generation that’s never seen ‘TITANIC’ as it was meant to be seen, on the big screen. And this will be ‘TITANIC’ as you’ve never seen it before, digitally re-mastered at 4K and painstakingly converted to 3D. With the emotional power intact and the images more powerful than ever, this will be an epic experience for fans and newcomers alike.”

“This new presentation of Paramount’s top-grossing film is particularly special because 2012 is the 100th anniversary of our studio. Paramount has had the pleasure of introducing audiences to some of the all-time classics of cinema during that century of moviemaking and we cannot think of a better way to mark the occasion than with this re-release of ‘TITANIC’,” said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.

Commented Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen and CEOs, Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman: “Our 30-plus year relationship with Jim Cameron and Lightstorm has been enormously rewarding, from ‘Aliens’ to ‘Avatar’, and the global phenomenon of ‘TITANIC’ remains one of the greatest sources of pride in our history. We are pleased to allow a new generation of audiences to experience the film in its brilliant digital restoration in 3D.”

Prepare to see history rewritten in a big way…

The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Paul W.S. Anderson is down to direct Pompeii, the story of that volatile volcano Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of the titular Roman city. Wonder what the film will require in order to ground it for an audience? That’s right, a love story will take centre stage in proceedings, with an emotional tug-of-war between a slave’s daughter, a corrupt Roman senator and another potential owner. Awww.

Anderson has another period film (of sorts) in post-production at the moment – his version of the Three Musketeers is due for release later on in the year.

As for Pompeii, I wonder how many slow-mo shots of flaming molten shooting out an audience will be able to stand. Given the potential for the visual fireworks on display here, and the fact that James Cameron is due to make that all-important enhancement to his own period tragedy/love story Titanic, surely it will only be a matter of time before ‘3D’ will be affixed to the end of the film’s title?

As soon as Avatar finished its super successful cinema run rumours emerged that the world hadn’t seen the end of the story, and that we were to expect a second chapter to Jake and Neytiri’s adventures in Pandora.

The Hollywood Reporter has now announced that director James Cameron is getting ready to film not one, but two sequels to his “biggest blockbuster of all time” masterpiece.

The two movies are scheduled to come out over the course of the next four years, the first in December 2014 and the second a year after that, and Lightstorm Entertainment (Cameron’s company) is now just starting to get into gear for the mammoth work that such a complex and motion capture technology advanced production will require.

Cameron is selling his old office building in Santa Monica (currently listed at $11.85 million), probably in an attempt to at least reduce the inevitable work-related stress by having his offices and studio consolidated into one location not far from his home, down the coast of Malibu.

It is likely that Wellington based WETA, the special effects company which looked after the visual effects in the Lord of the Rings saga as well as those in the first Avatar, will be employed again, although Cameron hasn’t confirmed as of yet whether live action scenes will take place in New Zealand as they were for the first Avatar.

While fans will have to wait quite a while, the buzz around the Avatar sequels production has already started and looks like it could rival that of Peter Jackson’s long awaited The Hobbit. More news to come soon…

Report by Margherita Pellegrino.