Cameron says 'Avatar' will not be a trilogy

For fans of James Cameron's parade of visuals known as "Avatar," you must have frothed over the news of not one but two upcoming sequels to the mega blockbuster. Well, it appears  Cameron is not intending for these two films to form a trilogy. 

In an interview with Fox News, Cameron said, "We’re shooting two films back-to-back, so I’m writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a [three]-film story arc – not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc so I’m pretty excited about that.

"We’re doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We’re creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach so everybody that’s not already dead is coming back."

Does that mean the story is not limited to three pictures, but could ostensibly go on as long as the franchise makes money? Is Cameron taking cues from the creators of the "Saw" franchise? Well, let's hope not! (via Dark Horizons)

Box Office: 'The Last Exorcism' triumphs?

Updated on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 8:09PM by Franck Tabouring

What a close race this weekend at the North American box office! New releases "The Last Exorcism" and "Takers" battled for No. 1, and according to estimates, "Exorcism" took the lead with $21.3 million.

"Takers," however, came in close second with $21 million, so it will be interesting to see if this result stands once actuals arrive tomorrow. "Exorcism" scored an average of $7,411 per theater.

Either way, this is a huge performance by "Exorcism," a horror flick produced on a budget of a mere $1.8 million. As for "Takers," the heist film with Idris Elba and Matt Dillon, it only cost $20 million to make.

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'The Last Exorcism' takes Friday box office lead

Daniel Stamm's "The Last Exorcism" has had a solid launch, because the horror thriller scared it competition and took the box office lead Friday with a strong $9.4 million in estimated ticket sales.

The Lionsgate release is now playing at 2,874 locations, scoring an opening day average of $3,271 per theater. The film follows a minister who agrees to have his final exorcism taped by a documentary crew.

Opening in second place was "Takers," which performed rather well. Starring Idris Elba, the heist flick took $7.5 million for Screen Gems at 2,206 locations. Paul Waker, Matt Dillon and Chris Brown so-star.

Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables" slipped to third place, earning $2.7 million for a total haul of $75.2 million. Following in fourth place Friday was "Eat Pray Love," which bagged $2.1 million.

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'Avatar' returns to theaters this August

James Cameron's "Avatar" is chasing after some more money, and cinemagoers will be able to relive the 3D experience in theaters Aug. 27, 2010. Fox announced it will also re-release the film in IMAX.

The studio's official statement says the number of 3D screens has exploded this year, so people who missed "Avatar" in 3D will now get the chance. The movie will also include 8 minutes of new footage.

Eight only? Is it really going to be worth it to run back to the cinemas for that? In my book no, but I am sure fans of the flick will definitely return for another round of Pandora madness. What about you?

The Couch Potato reviews 'Avatar' on DVD

Welcome to The Screening Log's latest feature column. Each week, our new contributor Dave Fogerson will screen a DVD and share his viewing experience, and to kick things off, he decided to get a hold of James Cameron's "Avatar" and find out what the hit movie looks like in 2D on a smaller screen. Enjoy the result below, and if you like what you're reading, please spread the word. Welcome Dave! Here we go...

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'Avatar' keeps breaking records... on DVD

"Avatar" has disappeared from the top of box office charts, but James Cameron's ultra-successful sci-fi hit flick is now going at it full force on DVD. "Avatar" was released on DVD and Blu-ray last Thursday, and 20th Century Fox announced it has already sold 6.7 million copies. How about a wow to that?

No, I am not the biggest fan of the film, but I am impressed by what this monster has achieved in terms of money. The DVD sales have already brought in $130 million, and "Avatar" is the fastest-selling Blu-ray title of all time. A 3D version of the film is also planned, but it won't be released in the near future.

'Avatar' DVD sets new record, sells lots of copies

The new "Avatar" DVD only includes a 2D version of the film and lacks special features, but it broke records nonetheless. The DVD sold a stunning 4 million copies Thursday, and 1.5 million of those were Blu-ray editions. The film also beat the previous recrod holder "The Dark Knight," which sold 600,000 Blu-ray copies on day one of its DVD release. Just imagine how many people will go grab the 3D version of "Avatar" when it hits the market sometime next year.

Jon Landau gives 'Avatar' sequel update

The DVD release of James Cameron's "Avatar" is coming up fast and the folks at Coming Soon got to attend a preview event at which they got to chat with producer Jon Landau. Of course, the main topic of the chat was the "Avatar" sequel, and here's what he said is up with that at this stage:

"Our pressure about an 'Avatar' sequel is self-imposed. We've always said that if the public wanted a sequel that we would do a sequel," he said. "We're only going to do it when we have a piece of material, a script, that we believe will be at least as entertaining and unique as the first movie was."

On how much easier it will be to make a sequel: "We figured out how to do it, and our goal in the next one is to do it more cost-effectively and more time-efficiently, and we have kept on a team of our technical staff who is working right now on Gen 2 of what we did, but with all the experience that we've had."

Check out more here.

'Alice in Wonderland' repeats at overseas box office

Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" is still leading the international box office, and the 3D Walt Disney adventure collected $46 million in 51 territories this weekend. The film's overseas total gross currently stands at an impressive $363 million. Worldwide, "Alice" has grown to $656.1 million.

Following in second place this weekend was DreamWorks' "How to Train your Dragon," which collected $31 million from ticket sales in 35 markets. The film lifted its early international total gross to $42 million. The story follows a young Viking who encounters an injured dragon and vows to protect him.

At No. 3, Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" picked up another $10 million, bringing its cumulative gross to $125.6 million. Meanwhile, James Cameron's "Avatar" is slowing down overseas. The 3D sci-fi flick bagged another $7.6 million this weekend, reaching a total gross of $1.950 billion. "Avatar" was No. 4.

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'Alice' destroys overseas box office again

What is up with Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland"? Disney's 3D adventure just seems unstoppable, and this weekend, it bagged another stunning $47 million overseas, lifting its foreign total to a solid $300 million. But hey, it gets better: worldwide, the movie has already earned $565.8 million, and that's only after three weeks in release. How far will this monster hit go?

At a distant No. 2, Martin Scorsese's decent thriller "Shutter Island" picked up another $15.1 million, reaching a total gross of $70.7 million. That's certainly not bad for the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a marshal investigating the mysterious disappearance of a prisoner of a weird island institution. "Shutter Island" is now playing in 44 markets.

Meanwhile, James Cameron's sci-fi hit flick "Avatar" finished third on the international circuit this weekend, picking up $13 million. Overseas, the film has reached $1.937 billion. Cameron recently spoke about a possible re-release of the film latrer in the year, but that's unconfirmed at this point. He believes the film could make even more money. Of course...

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