With a budget of Rs 1200 crores, James Cameron's 'AVATAR' is the biggest film ever!

Bollywood has surely made its mark on the world by not just making a staggering number of movies in a year but are also breaking records with the moolah that is being invested in a single project!

The recently released ‘BLUE’ produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd. was said to be the biggest and the most expensive movie made till date in Indian cinema, estimated at a whopping Rs.80 crores, with additional crores spent on the marketing and promotions.

While Bollywood has a reason to rejoice, having integrated the best of both worlds, seamlessly incorporating Indian cinema with state of the art equipments and latest technique in movie-making; the challenge from Hollywood seems to be getting even tougher!

Just when everyone in Bollywood was talking about the humungous budgets of ‘Blue’, James Cameron (the maker of Titanic and Terminator) is here once again with his next film that seems to have crossed all records not only in terms of the budget but also the technique of filmmaking with its path-breaking technology.

‘AVATAR’, Cameron’s forthcoming action adventure is a fantasy epic made on a whopping budget of Rs. 1200 crores (approx USD 230 million) that clearly makes it the biggest film ever made!

Avatar is James Cameron’s first directorial effort since TITANIC, an epic film that still holds the title for the highest grossing film of all time.

But the film’s budget is only one of the factors that catches our fancy.

Conceived by Cameron 14 years ago with four years of actual production work, the entire film is shot using the proprietary FUSION digital 3-D camera developed by Cameron and Vince Pace (Ghosts of the Abyss, Ocean Odyssey, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over).

Produced by leading Hollywood studio Twentieth Century Fox, Avatar is a blend of live-action photography and new virtual photorealistic production techniques where Cameron again combines elements of massive spectacle and intimate character to tell a relatable and emotional tale.

Mr. Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India says, “There is an incredible buzz building up for Avatar across the India media, our theatrical partners and the core audiences. The dramatic increase in the no. of 3D screens, as well as the strong interest that we are getting from the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language markets reaffirms the strong buzz for the film.”

When Fox recently screened select film footage across the globe on what was celebrated as the ‘Avatar Day’, the reaction from the industry and movie enthusiasts was alike – that of complete awe and excitement.

While renowned Hollywood filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Abrams, Guillermo del Toro are already planning some big-budget films with Cameron’s latest technology, closer to home directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt and Sanjay Gupta were heard saying that the film will alter the way movies are made.

‘Avatar’ is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Starring Sam Worthington (Hart’s War, Rogue), Siqourney Weaver (Alien) and Zoe Saldana (The Terminal), the film delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

Avatar is all set for a worldwide release on December 18th and the film has already opened for advance bookings in several parts of the US!

--SAMPURN