14 DAY TRIAL // “Avatar,” the biggest selling movie ever to be made in the history of cinema, is getting a revamp version. Director James Cameron, reportedly already at work on a prequel (a novel) and a sequel (a film), is currently in talks with Fox in light of having the flick re-released in theaters this summer, with a little something to make fans want to see it again, like 12 extra minutes, as The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The decision was prompted by the fact that Fox believes “Avatar” could have easily made more money had it not been for Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” which took over digital and Imax 3D screens only a few days ago, pushing “Avatar” out. In order to recoup that loss, Fox and Cameron are currently talking about re-releasing it over the summer and have reportedly already come up with an idea to convince fans to see it by adding some extra scenes.
“The impetus for a rerelease is the feeling that, even though ‘Avatar’ is the highest-grossing movie of all time, producers could have raked in even more money had they been able to hold on to the digital and Imax 3D screens that were lost when Disney opened ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in 3D on March 5. As for how much additional footage Cameron might add to ‘Avatar,’ the guessing began early Thursday when Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said during a Gabelli & Co. investor conference in New York that Cameron had about 40 minutes of additional material that didn’t make the theatrical cut. He also predicted a rerelease, which he said probably would occur in the fall,” THR says.
“Cameron had said that he had 10-12 minutes of extra scenes that he cut and could quickly put through postproduction and have ready to add to a director’s cut for a theatrical reissue or as an extra on the DVD release. One scene has to do with Jake Sully’s avatar proving himself to the Na’vi people; the other involves a native festival during which tribe member Tsu’tey gets drunk. The maximum length a movie can be released in analog Imax theaters is 170 minutes – a number Cameron was aware of when he made his original edit – so he could add about 10 minutes to the 160-minute current run time and still be in all Imax locations. That seems more likely than trying to add as much as 40 minutes,” the publication goes on to say.
So far, “Avatar” has made $2.6 billion internationally, with the biggest part of the gross coming from 3D and Imax tickets. $127.1 million of its $712.5 million domestic gross came from Imax theaters alone, so it would be perfectly understood why Fox feels the film could have continued on the winning streak for a little longer. Keep an eye on this space for a re-release date.