New Line has tapped Nicholas D’Agosto (”Election”) for the lead role along with David Koechner (”Anchorman”) for “Final Destination 5,” to be directed by visual effects vet Steven Quale. Quale was second unit director and visual effects supervisor on “Avatar” and second unit director on “Titanic.” The 3D project will be produced by Craig Perry through his Practical Pictures shingle and Warren Zide. Eric Heisserer (”A Nightmare on Elm Street”) is penning the script, which involves scenes on a suspension bridge and laser eye surgery.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023533.html?categoryId=4026&cs=1

Get ready to return to Pandora. James Cameron’s “Avatar” will be returning to movie theaters in August. The re-release will feature eight minutes of never-before-seen footage, exclusively in Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D. Since the initial release of “Avatar” back in December, the number of Digital 3-D projectors and screens has exploded, and those who missed the film in 3-D during its first round will have a chance to catch it in the format Cameron intended. The top-grossing movie of all time, “Avatar” earned over $2.7 billion in worldwide box office. It is also the best-selling Blu-ray disc of all time. It returns to theaters on Aug. 27.

Twentieth Century Fox Intl. has passed the $2 billion benchmark for this year’s foreign box office receipts, with “Avatar” contributing an un-Earthly 70% of that total. The 3D phenom has earned $1.4 billion during 2010 alone for a whopping $1.99 billion overseas cume to date. Distrib’s boffo first-quarter earnings for “Avatar,” along with $152.5 million from live-action hybrid “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” have helped the overseas distrib achieve a record-setting industry pace. Fox Intl. currently holds the record for annual foreign ticket sales, with last year’s $2.26 billion. Previous record of $2.24 billion was set by Warner Bros. Intl. in 2007.

New Line has tapped visual effects vet Steven Quale — a longtime associate of James Cameron — as director for “Final Destination 5.” Quale was second unit director and visual effects supervisor on “Avatar” and second unit director on “Titanic.” The 3D project will be produced by Craig Perry through his Practical Pictures shingle and Warren Zide. Eric Heisserer (”A Nightmare on Elm Street”) is penning the script.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020369.html?categoryId=4026&cs=1

Sequels to two major 3-D action franchises are in the works, but may return without key members of the original talent. Reports are that the sequel to “Clash of the Titans” will proceed without director Louis Leterrier. Star Sam Worthington will return, but he’s also due to report on the sequel to another monster-sized hit, “Avatar.” That puts pressure on Warner Bros. to have a shooting script ready in time to hit a hoped-for spring 2012 release date. Leterrier will remain on-board as an executive producer. Meanwhile, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” may lose star Brendan Fraser.

Before James Cameron became the richest man in Hollywood, he was the blockbuster director behind ‘Aliens’ and ‘Terminator.’ And fanboys in the ’90s went nuts when he announced that he was going to work on the first-ever ‘Spider-Man’ film. Alas, the movie got caught up in development problems, and Cameron had to abandon the project. Well, now it appears that Cameron is back in Spidey’s web. Jon Landau, Cameron’s co-producer on ‘Avatar,’ recently told MTV that they have met with Marc Webb, director of the upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ reboot. How Cameron and Landau will support the project remains to be seen, but it’s expected to have something to do with 3D.

Avatar got 9 Oscar nominations just as I predicted (21% of the readers predicted 9-10 nominations according to the poll in my previous post, congrats to you). With 9 nominations Avatar leads the pack together with “The Hurt Locker” that also got 9 nominations.

It’s gonna be an exiting evening March 7th when the winners as announced, only 33 days away, Avatar FTW

Here’s the complete list of all the categories and nominees.

Warner Bros. will release the next two “Harry Potter” films in 3D. Early 3D-conversion tests on Warners’ remake of “Clash of the Titans” have gone so well that — combined with boosted enthusiasm for 3D in the wake of the “Avatar” tsunami — the Burbank studio has decided to release not only “Titans” but also the two-part “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in 3D. Warners refused to confirm the decision Tuesday, but an announcement on “Titans” is expected by week’s end, and official word on the “Potter” pics surely will follow. Conversion expenses have been coming down, so each film will cost just $5 million to convert into 3D. Warners also will absorb an additional $5 million expense per pic to pay for 3D glasses for exhibitors handling the movies.

Warner Bros. will decide in the next 10 days whether to release Louis Leterrier’s remake of action fantasy “Clash of the Titans” in 3D. Warners has ordered a 3D test of the film — set for release on March 26 — and will screen the converted scenes next week before deciding whether to make the move. Studios across Hollywood are looking into possible 3D conversions in the aftermath of the big boxoffice bonanza called “Avatar.” With conversions, 2D films — whether newly produced movies or classic titles slotted for release, such as the first two “Toy Story” pics — are run through a process that turns 2D images into 3D. Most 3D movies, including “Avatar,” are shot in 3D from the start.

The viral marketing site for Avatar -  avtr.com – has gone live whit a lot of new content. It’s a fictional site where RDA (Resource Development Administration), the ones who are responsible for mining on Pandora, gives you news updates about whats happening on Pandora.