20th Century Fox | USA | 162 min

Bursting with the energy of invention, James Cameron’s technological epic Avatar shows us how stories will be told in the future, in turn giving us a story to tell the moment we see it. To tell our friends what they missed or have yet to witness – computer-generated beings sweating in fear and crying in heartbreak and cursing in tongues that don’t exist on this planet, or in this solar system.

For a film built on discovery, it only seems appropriate that the plot should echo that of legendary John Smith and his exploration of the New World, which resulted in his love for it and for Pocahontas, its first daughter. Read the full story

At the red, and by red I mean blue, carpet premiere of James Cameron’s Avatar tonight (which was streamed live via UStream), writer/director Bryan Singer confirmed that he has inked a deal with 20th Century Fox to direct a new X-Men film. Which one you ask? He has signed on to do the prequel film X-Men: First Class. So no, he won’t be redeeming Wolverine but he will be saving the rest of the team from a similar fate.

In case you were wondering about the legitimacy of this, there were multiple eye witnesses watching the live stream (one being Flickchart on twitter).

How happy are you that Singer will be returning to the series?

As if the world needed more trailers/featurettes/gossip/financial projections concerning this impending theatrical great disaster/great success, here is another Avatar featurette, courtesy of 20th Century Fox, located on Taiwanese Yahoo. [via /Film] Check out the embed below.
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The day has finally come. James Cameron has returned to science fiction with Avatar. After months of hearing exciting praise from tremendous filmmakers (Ridley Scott) and hearing the notable reaction from Comic Con, general audiences have been able to enter the world of Pandora. 20th Century Fox just unveiled sixteen minutes of 3D footage across the world in IMAX theaters. If you got the chance to check out the footage then you surely know that watching the trailer on a computer screen doesn’t do the film justice.

My hopes and expectations for Avatar were quite grounded while walking into theater. It was a fact that the footage would be undoubtedly impressive, but I wasn’t expecting anything to be mind blowing. That expectation was met. This may not be the revolutionary film that many were/are hoping for, but it is a huge step forward. There are many tremendous aspects such as the non-gimmicky use of 3D.  It’s not distracting and objects are not constantly being thrown at you. This is definitely the first film to fully use 3D to enhance and add detail to the film. Cameron also seems to have taken motion capture to a whole new level.

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Following the debut of the first official trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar earlier this morning and on the eve of Fox’s first major marketing push (affectionately dubbed “Avatar Day”), FilmStage contributor Miles Trahan weighs in on the hype and hysteria surrounding Cameron’s sci-fi epic.

Hyperbole is a dangerous thing. As per Wikipedia, one could (and should) define hyperbole as “a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is rarely meant to be taken literally.” With the advent of the sites such as Twitter and Facebook and a scourge of web forums at one’s disposal, it’s easy these days to see dozens of folks rushing home from a screening to wax that the film they have just seen “totally rocks!”, is “the best thing ever!” or “#$*&ing sucks, don’t waste your money!” This should, of course, be expected; it’s human nature to want to shout our opinions to the world as loud and as fast as we can, to exaggerate in hopes of separating ourselves from the pack and getting the attention we so fiendishly desire. It’s why star ratings and user reviews are so popular on sites like IMDB; it’s why critics like Armond White (professional contrarian) get so much attention despite the fact that they by and large contribute nothing to the public consensus despite finger-waging and empty rhetoric. We take these things in stride; surely there’s bound to be some give-and-take between what others say and what we take from a film ourselves — we make room for the rhetoric. We acknowledge the hyperbole and temper our expectations just so.

Sometimes the hyperbole and rhetoric surrounding a film becomes overbearing; sometimes it strikes a rational person as overblown, inflammatory, unwarranted or any combination of the three. This can certainly be said of James Cameron’s Avatar.

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Remember late last year when 20th Century Fox’s PR department hilariously went into overdrive before the opening of Australia to assure the world that Hugh Jackman was, in fact, a slab of total man-beef but in a completely 100% heterosexual way?

Well now that both Australia and X-Men Origins: Wolverine have opened, who cares?!

Variety is reporting that Fox has inked a deal for Jackman to star in The Greatest Showman on Earth, an original musical based on the life of entertainer and entrepreneur P.T. Barnum. The film is scripted by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City) and produced by Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls), both of whom previously worked with Jackman on the 2009 Oscars. Pop singer Mika is in negotiations to write the music and the filmmakers are writing the female lead with Anne Hathaway in mind.

This is the second musical Jackman is hoping to recruit Hathaway for. His big screen version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, a sure contender for world’s most depressing musical, is being set up at Fox 2000.

Are you ready to see Tony-award winning Jackman take his singing to the silver screen?

/Film reported today that 20th Century Fox has hired director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) to direct a made-for-TV documentary about The Simpsons.

Spurlock was quoted saying: “When they first called me about this, I thought it was a prank and I hung up. And then my agent called back and said, ‘No, no, this is for real,’ at which point I fainted. Then when I woke up, I called everyone I knew because it was the coolest thing I could ever get to do in my career.” Spurlock will also be on hand at this year’s Comicon, looking for fans to cast in the film.

Although Fox has been dropping the ball over the last few years film-wise, if there’s one thing they know how to do is television. Most of the top-rated shows on broadcast and cable are produced by Fox. I would really like to see a documentary about The Simpsons and how they have existed for so long. The fact that Morgan Spurlock is directing it only adds to my excitement.

What do you all think of this doc? Will it be worth the hype? And worth Spurlock’s involvement?

20th Century Fox has released the first trailer for the upcoming Jennifer’s Body over at Shock Til You Drop, the trailer was originally suppose to debut this Friday with Bruno. The story revolves round high schooler Jennifer who becomes possessed by a boy eating demon. After her best friend Needy learns about her demon and boy eating problem she learns she must fight her off to save all the boys and herself. Jennifer’s Body is written by Diablo Cody and is directed by Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux). The film also stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, J.K. Simmons, Adam Brody, and Amy Sedaris. Jennifer’s Body hits theaters September 18th, 2009.

This actually looks surprisingly good. Not enough horror comedies are released now a days, except for the great Drag Me to Hell which was criminally overlooked by general audiences. Its got everything the horror geek inside of me wants i.e lots of over-the-top blood, a funny story, and cheesy one liners. Another aspect that I am so impressed by is that Megan Fox actually looks good here. Maybe she was right that she could be a good actress if she was given the right material, which she wont get from the Transformers films. She looks funny, scary, and even kind of intimidating. Hopefully the end product lives up to this fun trailer.

Are you still excited for Jennifer’s Body? What do you think of this trailer?

AICN recently talked to Robert Rodriguez who confirmed the Latino Review rumor that Nimrod Antal (Vacancy) will be directing Predators. It was long rumored that Neil Marshall (The Descent) was in the running with another short list of directors, but it seems that Rodriguez has finally made his choice. Predators is set for July 7th, 2010.
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The relationship between film sites on the internet is sometimes incestuous. One site reports a rumor, another picks it up, than another and pretty soon it’s being reported as fact.

A few weeks ago Bloody Disgusting posted a story that director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday) was being tapped by Robert Rodriguez and 20th Century Fox to helm their franchise reboot Predators. We reported on this story along with many other film sites.

After bouncing around the echo chamber for most of the day, the folks at AICN,who are known to have contact with Rodriguez himself, were able to clarify that Marshall is only one of several directors vying for the job.

Here we go again?

Latino Review is reporting that Nimród Antal (Armored, Vacancy) is now the front runner to direct the film.

What does this all mean? Nothing until we get confirmation from either Rodriguez or Fox, but it would be an interesting choice. Vacancy was pretty strong but studio tinkering did it no favors. While popular in the fan community, most of Neil Marshall’s work has left me cold. The Descent seemed particularly overrated.

Hopefully we’ll have a concrete answer soon as Fox has the film fast tracked for July 7, 2010.

Who do you think is the strongest choice to direct Predators? Who would be your ideal director for the film?