20% of Avatar Work Still Incomplete

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As all but the schmucks know, one of the most anticipated movies this holiday season is James ‘Titanic’ Cameron’s sci-fi film Avatar.

With Avatar set to release in theatres December 18, we were surprised to read in the Wall Street Journal the other day that 30 minutes of the 150-minutes-160-minutes movie still remains incomplete.

Here’s an excerpt from the WSJ piece:

Less than a month before the scheduled release of James Cameron’s new movie, “Avatar,” some scenes from the costly special-effects extravaganza remain unfinished.

Pressure to complete the project by the Dec. 18 release date has risen to the point where crews are working “24-8″—that is, eight days a week—said producer Jon Landau during a break from supervising the work in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Mr. Landau said that around 30 minutes of the movie remain incomplete, with issues ranging from sound mixing to more serious aspects like visual effects. The total running time is likely to fall between 2½ hours and two hours 40 minutes, not including credits.

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11 Responses to "20% of Avatar Work Still Incomplete"

  1. Vetti Jijaji   November 23, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Do they release the 3-D versions in India?

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Guess, they do but Indian readers would know for sure.

  2. ameritamil   November 23, 2009 at 7:57 pm

    Vetti, yes they do, but only in a few theaters.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Thanks.

    Now Vett’s next question will likely be: Will Avatar be released in Tamil and Telugu a la 2012? 😉

  3. Aswin_Kini   November 24, 2009 at 8:59 am

    Wow, that means the release of the film may be slightly delayed in India.

    I guess that it is happy times for the nauseating actor Vijay as his film is releasing on the same date, (December 18). He would be glad if Avatar is not released on December 18th due to obvious reasons.

    In case, you people are wondering why I am comparing the release of a good Hollywood film to Crappy Vijay’s film, here is the story.

    2012: Which is no great Sci-Fi film by any means is shining very well at the Indian box office, especially in Tamilnadu.

    Yesterday, magazines reported that the Tamil dubbed version of 2012 has collected more revenue than Suriya’s AYAN: An alarming statistic providing the news that ALL IS NOT WELL WITH KOLLYWOOD.

    Guess it is time for the Tamil Film Heroes and Producers to stop monkeying around and try to do some good films.

    1. SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: Yesterday, magazines reported that the Tamil dubbed version of 2012 has collected more revenue than Suriya’s AYAN

    Very interesting, if true (you haven’t mentioned the publication source). Ayan was plain garbage.

    2. You write: Guess it is time for the Tamil Film Heroes and Producers to stop monkeying around and try to do some good films.

    In a 1,000 years a Surya, Vishal or Ajith will not be able to do a good film unless they get a solid director who can kick their asses and extract some work out of these lazy bozos.

    Surya is not a actor, an abomination.

    3. If Avatar releases on December 18 in India, Vijay’s wateva-name movie will likely be postponed.

  4. Vetti Jijaji   November 24, 2009 at 9:00 am

    It’ll definitely have Tamil/Telugu versions.. much smaller budget movies have Indian versions.. this is like one of the biggest movies ever.

    but I do have questions.. 😉 which theaters in Chennai usually carry the 3-D versions .. did My Bloody Valentine 3-D get released in India? the jiggling in 3-D would have caused all box office records to be broken.

  5. Aswin_Kini   November 24, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Hi Vetti Jijaji,
    If you’re anywhere in Chennai and an English movie releases, the first place you would have to watch it would be SATYAM CINEMAS located at Royappettah, just 400 metres from the Thousand Lights Mosque.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Thanks. That was quick. 🙂

  6. Vetti Jijaji   November 24, 2009 at 10:05 am

    Thanks Aswin
    Satyam used to be THE theater when I was young.. Many Americans will be intimidated if they look at the size of Satyam. Most theaters here have just a 10th of Satyam’s capacity or less.

    Do they do release the 3-D versions there?

  7. Aswin_Kini   November 24, 2009 at 10:10 am

    Thanks SI

    Apart from Satyam, the only other theatres to frequently screen movies are Mayajaal (20 kms from Adyar, along the ECR) and Inox Movies (The tiny theatre housed in the Citi Center Complex located at Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore. Nearest Landmark is Queen Mary’s College)

    SI, I think you need to read this: http://sify.com/movies/tamil/fullstory.php?id=14919918&cid=13525926

    and this
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/2012-dominates-TN-box-office/articleshow/5262705.cms

    and this
    [link deleted because it contained spyware…not your fault Aswin]

    Is it an upcoming sign that people are tried with Tamil Films or is 2012 so good?????

    Bad news for Tamil Producers, Directors, and Actors.

    Maybe Avatar would break 2012’s records ten times over.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. Thanks for the links.

    2. You write: Bad news for Tamil Producers, Directors, and Actors.

    Most certainly. 92% opening for 2012 is impressive.

    For those too lazy to click on the links, here’s an excerpt from TOI:

    Even multiplexes are screening the Tamil version. It is eerie, listening to John Cusack trying to win over his estranged family in Tamil, or Danny Glover (he plays the American President) sounding like your local politician. But nobody is complaining. As the sci-fi adventure unfolds and a crack in the Sistine Chapel occurs, a howl goes up among the crowd, and when California splits from Los Angeles and caves into the sea, shrill whistles reverberate in the halls.

    When the film, directed by Roland Emmerich, released in the state 10 days ago, even the north-east monsoon could not keep the audiences away.

    Crowds thronged the Vellore Vishnu theatre, so much so that the manager stopped issuing tickets and let the people stand and watch, says owner Thirunavukkarasu. In Chennai, the Mayajaal multiplex had to send for another print since its 14 screens could not keep up with the demand.

  8. Aswin_Kini   November 24, 2009 at 10:29 am

    Yes Vetti, they do release 3-D versions there?

    SATYAM CINEMAS pride themselves as the theatre with the latest facilities and films.

    This theatre caters to a niche audience consisting mostly of middle-class, upper middle class, and Higher class.

    They have good facilities. Unfortunately, all of these come at a cost. However, there are few negatives such as the YUCKY Power coffee that they force their audience to drink for 25 bucks during the interval.

    I wish the owner of Satyam Cinemas arranges for milk coffee the next time around.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: there are few negatives such as the YUCKY Power coffee that they force their audience to drink for 25 bucks during the interval.

    At the desi theaters here, you get Samosas, Bhel Puri et al. It’s a nice feeling while eating the Samosas, Bhel Puri and Bondas but inside the closed hall it creates a bad odor after a while unlike Popcorn.

    As for coffee, the only coffee worth drinking outside here is Starbucks or Seattle Best (a subsidiary of Starbucks).

  9. Aswin_Kini   November 24, 2009 at 10:41 am

    SI Wrote:
    “At the desi theaters here, you get Samosas, Bhel Puri et al. It’s a nice feeling while eating the Samosas, Bhel Puri and Bondas ”

    Sorry buddy, the theatres here(In Chennai) don’t sell Samosas or Bondas anymore. They have tried to emulate their western counterparts by selling pizzas, hot chips, maccaroni, puffs, Pop-corn with butter(60 bucks), and Sandwiches.

    The theatre has almost everything English, even the food.

    My favorite items like Samosa, Chat, Bonda, etc do not even get a mention in SATYAM’s MENU LIST 🙁

    And of course, POWDER COFFEE SUCKS!!!!!!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Looks like times are a changing in India.

    Funny you should get Pizzas and Sandwiches to go with your movies while we get Bonda, Bhel Puri, Samosa, Lassi etc.

    As this Los Angeles Times article notes, Samosas, Mango Lassi, Paapi Chaat are some of the ‘goodies’ you can get at Anil Ambani’s Big Cinemas here.

  10. Vetti Jijaji   November 24, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Sathyam wiki says
    :A pure vegetarian South Indian restaurant on the first floor of Sathyam Cinemas complex. This is one among the cuisines that provide the best dosas in town:

    and they have reduced the capacity from 1250 to 950.. still huge! looks like it will be totally unrecognizable to me now.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You quote: This is one among the cuisines that provide the best dosas in town

    Just curious..do Chennai restaurants now offer Mysore Masala Dosas?

    In all our years in Tamil Nadu (including a short stint in Chennai at Thiruvottiyur), never saw this Mysore Masala Dosas on the menu. Those days it was all Sada, Masala, Nye-Roast….

    Every Indian restaurant in the U.S. offering Dosa has the Mysore Masala Dosas on the menu (usually, a more expensive Dosa too compared to the other Dosas).

  11. sganeshkumar1989   November 26, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    So going by the reports posted in the comments’ section here,2012 is a huge Blockbuster in Tamil Nadu too, like in my state (A.P.).

    I felt it was average (By Hollywood standards,ok?),and I guess you’ll be more unkind to it, if you’ve watch it and then post a review 😉 ; but the fact is it was way better than all the Top heroes’ Masala flicks/craps released this year so far, be it Tamil or Telugu and Hindi too. No wonder the crowds have turned up in huge numbers to watch this film.(And of course,the desi connection too being another reason 😀 )

    After Titanic (Ran for 175 days in many cities!) and Spiderman-3 (Grossed Rs.60 crores in India), I guess 2012 is the most watched Hollywood film in India.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Media reports from India too have 2012 as a big money-grosser there!

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