During an interview with MTV, James Cameron dropped some more bits of information regarding the still-unannounced Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of
Avatar. The Canadian-born filmmaker revealed that the release will include 45 minutes of deleted, unfinished footage - and that's not counting the 16 extra minutes of the Blu-ray extended cut (which
will include an opening scene set on Earth).
The economics dictated the amount of footage that could be finished and integrated with the movie. "We got the budget to finish these nine minutes [in the theatrical re-release], and we got the budget to finish the 16-minute longer version," explained Cameron, but beyond that, "it didn't make sense to finish all the extra CG and visual effects." This footage will thus be presented in rougher form, as rendered in real time by the virtual camera, whose quality is described by Cameron as similar to that of "an old video game."
One of the scenes that did make it to the Blu-ray extended cut is the much talked about opening sequence set on a dystopian Earth, which is about four and a half minutes long. Cameron said separately to
The Oregonian: "If you buy the box set in November, you can sit down, and in a continuous screening of the film, watch it with the Earth opening." The studio spent about a million dollars to finish the visual effects on that scene.
He also warned that, in the extended version, "it just takes a long time to get the movie started and that one must "be sort of predisposed to like the movie like a fan."
Although there are things "you will never see," Cameron confirmed that the upcoming "big box set" that his team is now working on will "definitely satisfy the appetite of even the most hard-core fan."
Although there are things "you will never see," Cameron confirmed that the upcoming "big box set" that his team is now working on will "definitely satisfy the appetite of even the most hard-core fan."