James Cameron’s Avatar confirmed to be re-released in IMAX 3D with brand new footage

IMAX and 20th Century Fox announced today that James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar will be re-released in IMAX 3D on August 27, 2010 for a limited two-week engagement. The re-release of Avatar will include eight minutes of additional, never before seen footage, providing moviegoers with the opportunity to see the film again or experience it for the first time. Avatar has grossed approximately $235 million in box office revenues in IMAX to date, making it the top grossing Hollywood IMAX release of all time.

“Avatar was a game changing film for the entire movie industry, giving consumers a whole new experience that translated exceptionally well in IMAX,” said Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “The re-release, scheduled one year after the special IMAX day sneak preview, will bring the Avatar event full circle for IMAX fans around the world.”

“We are thrilled to be re-releasing this incredible film with additional footage that will capture the imagination of moviegoers one more time or maybe even for the first time,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX’s Filmed Entertainment Division. “James Cameron is a masterful film maker whose imagination, creativity and vision are on display in way that is totally unique, particularly in IMAX.”

Avatar is directed and written by Academy Award Winner James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. Avatar has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people.

More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron’s return to feature directing since helming 1997’s Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, has incorporated new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.