Avatar News: Banned in China, 23 Minute Featurette, and Man Dies From Excitement Dan Koelsch, January 20, 2010January 20, 2010 James Cameron’s Avatar tends to attract some pretty strange news. There has already been the report of a woman getting shot during an Avatar screening, and now we have another death related to Avatar. More on this story, plus China banning the film, and a 23 minute behind-the-scenes featurette. After Avatar had the biggest opening in China’s history, the Chinese government has pulled the 2D version of the film from all cinemas, according to BBC News. Why? The official statement from China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is that the 2D sales were poor (only 1/3 of the total revenue), so this is standard practice. However, not everyone is buying this answer. Critics of the decision are claiming that the film’s message is what caused it to be downsized. The film’s plotline of forcing natives to move for a corporation mirrors the country’s efforts to move citizens in order to build lucrative property. Also, the fact a movie with this message has done so well scares the Chinese government, so replacing with with more Communist-friendly films both supports the government and homegrown cinema. Interestingly enough, in the same part of the world, a Tawainese man died days after seeing Avatar in theaters. The 42 year old man apparently had already had health problems, and his doctor claims watching the movie made the man over-excited and thus caused his fatal stroke. Lastly, Yahoo has a nice behind the scenes featurette on Avatar that’s longer than most at over 22 minutes. Take a look: News Avatar
Cloverfield This Week In Viral – Cloverfield 2? March 1, 2009February 2, 2025That’s right, JJ Abrams spoke at WonderCon about the possibility of Cloverfield 2. Here is the video: Not much more than what he and Director Matt Reeves have said in the past, though it seems like they finally have a good idea for the sequel/spin off. Viral news on Angels… Read More
Super 8 Tidbits: IMAX and Trailer Date January 13, 2011Briefly: J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 movie is about to get a lot less secretive. Paramount announced that the sci-fi thriller being co-produced by Steven Spielberg will be released in IMAX, along with the studio’s other 2011 big budget offerings. Also, Abrams himself told Collider that they are planning to release… Read More
New Surrogates Trailer September 11, 2009Disney’s Touchstone Pictures has released a new trailer for Surrogates. Not a whole lot more footage, but it does tell the narrative a little better, which should help some people who are on the fence about the film. Check out the trailer below or watch it in HD here. FBI… Read More