'Avatar' re-release with extra footage coming?

Get ready for “Avatar”-plus.

James Cameron and Fox are in discussion about re-releasing “Avatar,” primarily in 3D theaters, in late summer — and, tantalizingly, with additional scenes that had been left on the cutting-room floor in the rush to ready the epic for its Dec. 18 release.

The impetus for a re-release is the feeling that, even though “Avatar” is the highest-grossing movie of all time, the producers could have raked in even more money had they been able to hold on to the digital and Imax 3D screens that were lost when Disney opened “Alice In Wonderland” in 3D on March 5.

As for how much additional footage Cameron might add to “Avatar,” the guessing began early Thursday when Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said at a Gabelli & Co. investor conference in New York that Cameron had about 40 minutes of additional material that didn’t make the theatrical cut. He also predicted a re-release, which he said probably would occur in the fall.

Cameron had said that he had 10-12 minutes worth of extra scenes that he cut and could quickly put through postproduction and have ready to add to a director’s cut for a theatrical reissue or as an extra on the home video release. One scene has to do with Jake Sully’s avatar proving himself to the Na’vi people. The other scene involves a native festival during which tribe member Tsu’tey gets drunk.

The maximum length a movie can be released in analog Imax theaters is 170 minutes — a number Cameron was aware of when he made his original edit — so he could add about 10 more minutes to the 160-minute current run time and still be in all Imax locations. That seems more likely than trying to add as much as 40 minutes.

The week before “Alice” arrived, Fox’s movie still was minting millions in 4,215 North American theaters, including 179 Imax sites. This week, it dropped to a theater count of 667, including eight Imax 3-D locations, resulting in a 41% week-over-week drop in grosses.

Through March 4, “Avatar” had grossed $127.1 million of its $712.5 million domestic haul in Imax theaters; this week’s giant-screen take was $175,884.

“Avatar” has done more than 80% of its domestic business in 3D theaters, which represented fewer than half of its runs.

The film also has grossed $1.9 billion outside North America for a total of about $2.6 billion to date. It has helped expand 3D globally and broken records all over the planet.

When “Avatar” was forced off the Imax screens — after the longest and most lucrative run in Imax history — to accommodate “Alice,” Fox saw increased grosses on nearby digital 3D screens, an indication that there is still demand.

How much did the film leave behind? Cameron was in New York this week for a demonstration of 3D TV and told USA Today, “The word we’re getting back from exhibitors is we probably left a couple hundred million dollars on the table as a result.”

The summer re-release would follow the home video premiere of “Avatar” in a 2-D form, which will happen as soon as next month and no later than May.

Cameron told USA Today there may be a Blu-ray Disc release of the 3D version for home use as early as fall, but Fox studio sources indicate that is unlikely. They believe there won’t be enough of an installed base of 3D TV sets to make that worthwhile and say it is more likely to come sometime next year.

Cameron and Fox also are in discussions about one or two sequels to “Avatar” that would use many of the digital “assets” that were created for the original. There is no script or deal in place, but the filmmaker and studio have indicated that it is something they would like to do.

Georg Szalai in New York contributed to this report.

Comments

[flash drive]

So far the only films that I think could beat this movie would be Batman 3, Green Lantern or The Avengers. Maybe Captain America.

[MC D-Lyte]

Only if this extra footage is a naked Na'vi sex with blue female body parts will I go to see this so long movie again

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[Loans]

Looking forward to this :-)

[Cheap Computer Canada]

I would certainly like to see the extra footing as it sure is a wonderful film.

[air jordan 3]

How did they get there?
I wonder how those greenfreak NGO got there im sure they didnt flap their arms or teleport or use pixie dust they most likly came on commercial airliners or as withAir Jordan 2009 these GREENPEACE troublemakers they came in their diesle fuled garbage scows ARCTIC SUNRISE and RAINBOW WARRIOR II

[refurbished dell computers]

Hey thanks i really liked this movie but know its coming with the added scene that is very interesting and ill definitely go and watch it. Ill also inform my friends about this. Thanks for sharing this information. Don't forget to share entertainment news.

[kelly]

Hey I'm a fan of Cameron movies so ain't nothing I can say about that except for: Bring It on Cameron.

[Mike]

Adding only 10-12 minutes of footage for re-release in Imax theaters is probably not going to persuade a lot of people to go see it again if they saw the original theatrical version and later purchased the 1st DVD release. If 3D theaters on the other hand do not suffer from the 170 minute length restriction like Imax then it would be better(and this is just my opinion) to add the entire 40 minutes of footage and show the re-release only in 3D theaters. After watching this film(and I loved it) and hearing about all the extra footage that was left out. I would be much more tempted to go see it with 40 extra minutes added to it than simply 10-12 minutes. I've read about a LOT of footage that was left out from the theatrical version and a pre-release version that was possibly pushing 4 hours in length. I would love to see all this extra footage. It doesn't matter to me if it's Imax or 3D, but I'd like to see all that deleted footage.

[motorcycle rentals miami]

Nice! I bet everyone that watched the movie and liked it would agree with me that we can't get enough of Avatar and still want more.

[r4i gold]

I like to watch movies and play games very much and that is why I like to read articles and blogs also. Avatar is a great movie and it has something different story so that it can attract more people. I like this movie very much and its 3D version is just awesome.

[Jeff Thurman]

Gee, I walked out of this pile twice when I went to see it. What a load.

I can hear Cameron's ego calling.