Cameron’s Avatar and Nolan’s Inception Trailer Details

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 12th, 2009

At the San Diego Comic-Con last month, James Cameron took the stage to premiere a sizzle reel of footage from Avatar, his latest special effects epic being called a “game changer” in industry circles.  During the panel, Cameron announced “Avatar Day,” an August 21 date dedicated to spreading awareness about his first feature since 1997’s Titanic.

While it’s not officially a national holiday (yet), Cameron and 20th Century Fox are planning to show 16 minutes of footage for free in select IMAX 3-D theaters across North America.  Cameron himself will intro the unprecedented promotional video, which is slightly different from the clip at Comic-Con.

Details on which locations are still forthcoming, but it’s estimated to be a scattered 101 theaters unveiling the footage at two separate showtimes: 6pm and 6:30pm that Friday.  According to the press release, tickets will be available on a “first come, first serve” basis at noon PST this Monday, August 17 on the Avatar website (AvatarMovie.com).

Of course I’ll be trying to score a ticket just like everyone else, but there’s no word on how many you’ll be able to secure per person.  This is going to be some spectacle, and I’m just as curious if IMAX can pull this off.  At the very least it should be interesting to see people scalping tickets to watch an extended movie trailer.

The first trailer will also be unleashed to the general public on “Avatar Day” and I’ll have it right here as soon as I can.  Also on the same Friday, UbiSoft is releasing a trailer for the tie-in video game and the official Mattel toy designs will become available.  Avatar opens in 2D and 3D theaters December 18, 2009.

Also premiering on the same day is a teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s next film, titled Inception.  There isn’t much to tell I’m afraid because he has kept the plot entirely a secret, but it’s set within the “architecture of the mind.”  Whatever that means.  I doubt we’ll learn anything from the trailer either, especially after The Dark Knight teaser was simply a flying Batman logo.

It should be noted both will likely debut in front of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which opens August 21.  Sounds like a good time at the theater.