Yesterday Avatar producer Jon Landau participated in a media event to tout the film’s upcoming April 22 release on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. During the event he addressed numerous Avatar subjects including the theatrical reissue, extended Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D releases and the status of Avatar 2.
“There are schoolhouse and training scenes that add some texture and flavor,” Landau said when asked about the new footage, adding that there will be roughly 5-10 minutes added to the theatrical reissue and the special edition Blu-ray and DVD due later this year. “But you’ve already seen James Cameron’s director’s cut; that’s what’s on the disc. This would sort of a fan’s cut.”
The disc Landau references is the April 22 release which will be devoid of bonus features and contain only the film and a single menu to maximize the Blu-ray experience. Many are hoping Avatar on Blu-ray becomes “the” reference quality disc by maxing out all the available space.
The special edition release of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD with the extra footage and bonus features is due this fall (estimated November release). There will be supplemental materials available before then, but they will only be accessible via BD-Live from the April 22 Avatar Blu-ray release.
Landau expects the Blu-ray 3D version of Avatar to bow sometime in 2011. Many feel Avatar is the film that will truly kick start the Blu-ray 3D format. For its sake, the sooner Avatar arrives, the better.
Lastly, Landau said a deal is currently being worked on with Fox for Avatar 2. But don’t expect it to arrive in theaters anytime soon. “We have a small team of people we’ve kept on ourselves,” he said about the sequel. “We want to do this one more cost-effectively and efficiently. We like to joke we didn’t really know how to make the first one until we were almost done with it.”
Source: New York Post
