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Avatar (2009) More at IMDbPro »

Two centuries in the future, an ex-marine is offered the chance to travel to a distant planet inhabited by a primitive alien race, in order to help exploit the planet's resources.

It was originally scheduled for release on 22 May, 2009. However, in order to allow for enough time to achieve the level of special effects photorealism that James Cameron is aspiring toward, and in order to accomodate 3D projectors being installed around the world, the producers all agreed to push the date of release to 18 December, 2009. This gives "Avatar" one of the longest post-production periods in cinema history - almost two full years.

Interestingly, the date when "Avatar" will be released coincides with the weekend Cameron's last cinematic film, "Titanic", came out.

No. This is a completely original movie conceived of by writer-director James Cameron, about a decade before the cartoon series on Nickelodeon started airing. Because James Cameron's concept and screenplay was already registered and copyrighted, he still reserves the right to use the word "avatar" as the title of his movie, in spite of the cartoon series being more widely known.

A separate movie adaption for the cartoon is in discussion and is set to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan. To avoid confusion, this movie is now named 'The Last Airbender.'

Note: The Nickelodeon's series 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is not an anime series. The term 'anime' is strictly applied to 'cartoons' made in Japan only. Hence, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a 'cartoon' (made in U.S.).

No, Avatar is a scriptment James Cameron wrote over a decade ago and it features a totally different Alien world along with unique beings, creatures, and locale. Cameron stated that he wrote Avatar influenced by every sci-fi story he read while growing up. It is also worth noting that Michael Biehn met with James Cameron 3 times and was strongly considered for the film, but Cameron said that people would just think that it was Aliens Mach 2, which he wanted to avoid. Jenette Goldstein (also from Aliens) auditioned for a role but was unsuccessful.