Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD April 22!

If you were of the 12 people in America who didn’t see Avatar in theaters and didn’t help fill James Cameron’s wallet with $732 million, then you can pre-order your DVD or Blu-ray copy of Avatar today from Amazon.com. It was announced yesterday the all-time highest grossing domestic and worldwide movie will hit stores on April 22 – which, by no coincidence, is Earth Day.

However, if you want special features, pretty menus and all the bells and whistles, you’ll probably want to wait for November. According to SlashFilm.com, this April 22 release is bare bones and a meatier multi-disc product will most likely hit stores in November, although probably not in 3D. I’m sure we’ll hear more details about this and the re-release of Avatar when James Cameron speaks to the press on March 23. Word on the street is the re-release will be an extended cut.

I’m crossing my fingers we’ll see an extended connect-the-hairy-ponytail-usb ports scene in the jellyfish Lite-Brite tree. I don’t know about you, but after two viewings of the nearly three-hour movie, those 12-foot Na’vi chicks were lookin’ kinda hot.

Click to order below:

It’s Official, Avatar Now the Box Office Shiz Niz

James Cameron must have a direct line to God or something, because the naysayers (including me) guffawed at the ballooned budget of 1997′s Titanic and predicted it would bomb at the box office. Instead, as we all know, Titanic became the worldwide and domestic box office champ, a record that’s held until today when, ironically, another big budget Cameron epic booted the iceberg-doomed ocean liner from number one to number two. And yes, I will admit, back on December 17, 2010 I didn’t think for a moment Avatar would be the highest grossing ever by February 4, 2010, less than two months since its release.

Now the question is what, if anything, can knock Avatar from it’s perch and will the Oscar success Avatar could see on March 7, 2010 fuel its earnings even further? Dan thought The Book of Eli might give Avatar some competition a few weeks ago, but Eli got kicked to the curb by the Na’vi by more than $10 million. I don’t think From Paris with Love, which Dan will review this Friday, has the chops to take down Avatar, but the Valentine’s Day weekend could see Avatar slip in the rankings, as The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Valentine’s Day hit multiplexes and will suck some audience away from the 12-foot smurfs of Pandora.

At any rate, congratulations to James Cameron and his crew. Avatar is a great movie and it will be fun to see how high it will climb the charts. Again, I’m amazed Titanic has been eclipsed. I always thought it would be untouchable, sort of like John Stockton’s NBA all-time assists record. I wonder how long it will take for another movie to match Avatar’s success. Perhaps the bigger questions is what makes Avatar so special?

Avatar Set to Sink Titanic’s Longstanding Box Office Reign

So three weeks ago on the KVNU Movie Show I stupidly claimed Avatar would be hard pressed to beat Titanic’s longstanding box office record of $600,788,188 and wouldn’t even come close to the iceberg-doomed ship’s grip on the all-time worldwide box office of $1,842,879,955. Sure it was making some noise in December, but recent box office trends suggested it would drop by 50% or more in consecutive release weeks. I was confident in my opinion.

Color me corrected. As, Tyler notes below. Avatar wants me to suck it.

Avatar will break both records and break them quite handily, most likely in the next two weeks, if not sooner. Considering James Cameron’s space odyssey will get nominated for – and possibly win – the best picture Oscar, would it be insane to suggest Avatar could come close to the $700 million mark domestically? More importantly, what is the driving thrust behind all the interest? Is this the work of more expensive tickets (3D and IMAX), or is this simply a magical movie?

Listen, I gave Avatar a B plus. I loved it. But did I think it would be the eventual all-time box office champ? Not in a million years.

Please, discuss – I’d like to know everyone’s thoughts on the matter.

Avatar Na’vi Porno Sexy Time! (NSFW)

Apparently the DVD and Blu-ray release of Avatar will have an extended sexytime scene between Jake Sully and Neytiri where, I’m guessing, we see their ponytail USB ports link up in the heat of passion. At any rate, I saw this cartoon at The Movie Blog today and laughed so hard Red Bull squirted out of my nose.

Let me caution you: This is so very wrong and I am ashamed I laughed. But yeah. Spot on.

Oh, and if you want to be fired, please, by all means, watch this at work.

Avatar Wins Weekend Box Office and Golden Globes

Avatar hauled in another $41.3 million at the box office this weekend and leapfrogged Star Wars to become the third highest grossing domestic release of all-time. Another weekend like this and it will assuredly pass The Dark Knight. All of the sudden passing Titanic, something I thought was impossible last week, isn’t so insurmountable now. Plus, you have to expect a surge of interest with Avatar winning best picture and best director at The Golden Globes this evening. I’m a little split on whether or not I should be surprised in that regard. I loved Avatar, but personally, I would have given the nod to The Hurt Locker or Inglorious Basterds before handing the awards statue to the Cameron and his cadre of 12-foot tall blue aliens.

Oscar nominations will be announced February 2, 2010 and the awards telecast is on March 7, 2010, so we’ll see how much momentum the Golden Globe win gives Avatar heading into Hollywood’s biggest and most prestigious awards ceremony. Personally, I think Avatar has the best picture Oscar wrapped up, but then again I was hoping Slumdog Millionaire would receive a swift kick to the cinematic balls. Next to Shakespeare in Love, Slumdog Millionaire was one of the most over-hyped, bland best picture winners in recent memory. I’d probably stick Crash into that basket, too.

Movie Review: Avatar (Dan’s Take)

After months of build-up and expectation, James Cameron’s Avatar has arrived. Playing against its hype, Avatar isn’t going to change your world, but for 2+ darkened hours, it’s sure as hell going to rock it.

James Cameron has delivered a visually resplendent, excellently paced and fully engrossing movie experience with his ode to 10 foot blue people and the humans who want to be them… or at least rape their planet. Avatar is a film built on the chassis of a summer blockbuster and delivered in a tight holiday package that’s rife with the reasons we go to movies: fun, escapism and perhaps most importantly, to feel. In short, Cameron may not have delivered a flawless masterpiece, but he’s certainly delivered his version of a close relative.

Avatar will inevitably draw criticism from a stodgy segment intent on reviewing the film amidst its din of hype and expectation, and while much of the sizzle is slightly overblown (as 90% of hype always is), Avatar shouldn’t be judged on that criteria, but rather on what unfolds during its two hour and 40 minute run time. This film is long, but never sags. Its pacing is quick and its exploration so enveloping, the 2.75 hours becomes a footnote, not a factor. On that note, make certain you don’t drink anything two hours before you enter the theater and make sure you hit the bathroom five minutes before showtime. You don’t want to miss a moment.

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Cranky Monday: What the Hell’s so Special About Taiwan Anyway, Avatar?

Don’t get me wrong. Taiwan is rad. SO rad. Not only rad enough that the U.S. would go to fisticuffs with China over it, but rad enough the Avatar campaign bus has just dropped off a load of new footage at their Yahoo! site.

The appetite-whetting footage is found in yet another featurette that, if you’re not already aware, pretty much lays out the whole story. The best part? You can understand the whole thing because it’s all in English. And while we can all look forward to Avatar “revolutionizing” the world of cinema forever when it comes out December 18, apparently it was unable to teach its cast to speak Chinese. Revolutionary my ass.

Check it out here.

[Edit: Or here, for you xenophobic types]

THEN, (you know, if you want to) check out the loooong, plot-detailed trailer below that aired for American audiences on TV a few days back.

Updated: Full Length Avatar Trailer Online

Until last weekend, my must-see thermometer had James Cameron’s Avatar deadlocked at tepid. The hype, along with Cameron’s overzealous bravado and the not-so-fresh teaser trailer was enough to extinguish any anticipation I once had for this “groundbreaking” movie.  However, after watching the full-length Avatar trailer last weekend (it was attached to Paranormal Activity), I must say, I am now enthusiastically waiting for the film’s December 19th release.

Check out the trailer below, and, as always, let us know your thoughts. Does this snippet make you want to see Avatar, or were you already planning on a great movie and another victory from Mr. King-of-the-World Cameron?

**UPDATE**

If for some unholy and mind-boggling reason you don’t have a computer or Internet access, you can catch the Avatar trailer on television at 11AM MST on Fox before kickoff of the Cowboys/Seahawks game on November 1st.

Frankly, the trailer might be the only reason you want to tune into this game. Yeah, that’s right, I think Tony Romo is a douche. What are you doing to do about it? Yeah. Sit down.

But I digress.

Not only will Fox viewers see the Avatar trailer, but the gazillions of drunken Cowboys fans will catch the 3:30 minute clip on Cowboy Stadium’s Diamond Vision Screen, which apparently makes this event the largest motion picture trailer-watching orgy in the history of motion picture trailer-watching orgies.

So, web friends, armchair quarterbacks and stadium-attending Cowboy’s fans – tell us what you think of the trailer!

See More Avatar Through the Miracle of Advertising

Avatar, the massive James Cameron project too recently unknown to the general public, is beginning to find its legs thanks to a new, story-based trailer attached to the uber-trending Paranormal Activity. The better trailer still feels super late, but at least people know it’s coming in less than two months. Studio reassurances of massive marketing are abounding and apparently, now is the time to expect the Avatar marketing flood (that flood promised way back at Comic Con?)– there’s a lot riding on it, so it’s about time.

As part of this coming deluge, 20th Century Fox has released a featurette that not only gives more story detail, but also introduces a load of footage not seen in previous trailers. The featurette is typically fluffy and a bit overstated, but it’s still full of fantastical cool looking stuff.

Check it out below.

Two New Avatar Images Show Us…Nothing

Okay, try not to poop your pants out of excitement, but two new Avatar images have hit the web and they show us…duh duh duh…absolutely nothing. I’m not expecting much, but really? These are supposed to make me excited? Just another shot of Jar Jar Binks lost cat-people cousins.  I wonder if at any point during Avatar they’ll find the dead remains of that blue-skinned, belly-shirted hoot-a-rific Jedi who obviously died on the jungle planet featured in James Cameron’s first motion picture in 12 years.

Okay, that’s my poor attempt to crap on both Avatar and the Star Wars prequels in the same paragraph, so I’ll just shut up now and post the pictures, available in gianormasized versions below (just click the image). Even though I’m snarky towards Avatar, James Cameron – despite being a dick – has a proven track record and I’m sure he’ll be flipping the naysayers the angry bird finger once Avatar beats out Titanic for the top box office spot. And once that happens, despite all my skepticism, I’ll say, “I told you so, a-holes!”