Friday, August 21st is the big public reveal of James Cameron’s Avatar with the trailer hitting theaters and the Internet along with special 16 minute presentations at select theaters. Details on that latter event are now here, courtesy of LA Times. First of all, it appears there will only be about 70 participating screens within the United States and it sounds like it will be a strictly IMAX affair despite earlier talk that non-IMAX 3D screens might get it too. Second, there will only be two viewings at each theater, at 6:00 and 6:30 PM. Third and perhaps worst of all, the tickets will be given out via an online first-come, first-serve registration at noon PST on Monday through the official site. If you’re going to try for it, good luck, you’ll need it. There remains no word on which theaters will be hosting these screenings.
As an aside, this following statement in the article really bugged me helped make the whole thing feel like it was just written by the film’s marketing team.
But it’s unprecedented for a studio to show an extended excerpt of a film in such a broad public setting months before it hits theaters.
Umm, do the authors not remember when every print of I Am Legend in IMAX was preceded with the opening bank heist sequence from The Dark Knight? That was both far broader and occurred longer before the film’s release.
Also of interest, the article states the film’s budget as exceeding $240 million.
Avatar will be released on December 18th.
