James Cameron‘s Avatar is less than three weeks away from it’s Dec. 10th world premiere in London (press screenings are also being held the very same day here in the US, one of our writers just got their invite) and anticipation is building. We just got confirmation from Wall Street Journal that the runtime will be just about two and half hours. Producer Jon Landau says “around 30 minutes of the movie remain incomplete, with issues ranging from sound mixing to more serious aspects like visual effects.” Don’t worry, Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman Jim Gianopulos says the film is still on track for worldwide release. These reports slightly conflict with Market Saw‘s info that WETA has wrapped production, but with the film finishing anytime now it’s no wonder there will be conflictions. THR also had a report highlighting the theater distribution and that Avatar could break the 10 week IMAX run record that The Dark Knight currently holds:

It is unclear exactly how many theaters AVATAR will open in, but Snyder estimates it will play in 3D in about 2,500 locations on about 3,500 screens. It will also be available in about 1,500 other locations in 2D, where it could play multiple screens in each theater complex. That would indicate an opening on a minimum of 5,500 screens and possibly significantly more, and that’s just in the U.S. It will also open in theaters in countries around the world.

Cameron has said that one of the constraints on his decision about running time was the Imax runs. AVATAR will open day-and-date in 3D in about 180 domestic Imax theaters (which is included in the 2,500 locations) and several dozen more internationally. In those theaters that are not yet converted to digital projection, they are limited to two of the giant platters that hold the film, which caps the length of a movie using the system at 170 minutes, which thus became the maximum length that Cameron was willing to let AVATAR run. In fact, he came in well under that with his final edit.

In other news Fox has released two brand new featurettes. Check them out below.

Through Eyes Of Colonel Quaritch

Human Hardware

James Horner‘s score is also available for pre-order for $12.99 on the official site with a release on December 15th. The tracklisting is below:

1. “You Don’t Dream in Cryo…”
2. Jake Enters His Avatar World
3. Pure Spirits of the Forest
4. The Bioluminescence of the Night
5. Becoming One of “The People”
Becoming One With Neytiri
6. Climbing Up – “Iknimaya – The Path to Heaven”
7. Jake’s First Flight
8. Scorched Earth
9. Quaritch
10. The Destruction of “Hometree”
11. Shutting Down Grace’s Lab
12. Gathering All the Na’vi Clans for Battle
13. War
14. I See You (Theme from “Avatar”)

Last but not least we have a look at two new international posters for the films. Check them out below.

Avatar hits theaters December 18th.

What do you think of the featurettes, the running times, and the poster? Are you going to purchase the score?