James Cameron will return to Pandora next year. The Avatar director, who attended the premiere of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington, New Zealand on Wednesday, told the West Australian (via Total Film) that he hoped to have the scripts to Avatar 2 and 3 completed by February, and to begin shooting by the end of 2013. more »
The extended Q&A transcript from James Cameron's China-focused chat with the New York Times and The Economist reveals the extent of Cameron's Avatar-tunnel vision. "I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them." Looks like it'll be all Avatar, all the time from here on out, which is... good news? [NYT]
Actor Stephen Lang, award-winning veteran of stage, film, and television, earned his biggest success to date playing the hardened Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's Avatar. But in the wake of Avatar, the character actor was looking for a departure of sorts, and he found it in the mythic fantasy landscape conceived by Robert E. Howard playing a bloodthirsty warlord in Marcus Nispel's Conan the Barbarian.
Writing from the set of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson took to Facebook Monday to blog his thoughts on filming at 48 frames per second -- the increased frame rate championed by folks like James Cameron, who will use it to blow minds in Avatar 2 and 3. Jackson is currently filming The Hobbit in 3-D at 48 fps instead of the industry standard 24 fps, and as a result, the Lord of the Rings follow-up will be the first wide release to pave the way into a brave new digital world of filmmaking -- whether or not theaters around the world are ready for it.
If the breakout debuts of Ryan Kwanten, Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, and Teresa Palmer introduced a new generation of young Australian actors to Hollywood, the arrival of 22-year-old newcomer Rhys Wakefield marks the full-fledged Aussie Invasion. The young star of this week's 3D underwater actioner Sanctum, who plays a 17-year-old cave diver trying to survive and get along with his estranged father, moved to Los Angeles last week, has already worked with the highest-grossing filmmaker of all time (executive producer James Cameron), and, like a pro, has learned to keep mum on the high-profile scripts he's got piled up at home.
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