Amph James Cameron's Avatar (The Way of Water + sequels)

Well, The Hobbit was basically limited by it's source material- they can only make so much original content up to smooth out the edges and pad out the runtime- and they can't really radically change the story much to make it better suited to a more developed, longer storyline.

Cameron can basically add or completely alter whatever he wants to come up with a story framework that can achieve the desired amount of content.

 

They're only on the Blu Ray collectors edition- besides the 16 min added back into the film (Earth opening, school subplot elaborated/visited where they talk about Ney'tiri's sister being gunned down, added herd hunt sequence, Tsu'tey's death, some minor character additions with Grace, etc) there's at least 45-60 min of unfinished scenes in various stages (actual actors in set, mocap actors, rough N64-like renders, final or near-final, etc).

There's more about the ritual Jake does to become one of the people- and how he's driven to complete it even though it could kill him (which leads to an extended vision quest trip type deal). I found it helped break up the paint by numbers facet to his training subplot by adding risk and character motivation.

Trudy has a subplot where she's secretly stealing data from the scientists (reluctantly) for Quaritch (which is how he has Jake's logs to use against him later on), which contributes to her decision to change sides later.

(It might have been Jake taking the data and Trudy ferrying it back but I forget off the top of my head)

Parker tries to pull the plug on Quaritch's bombing mission after he starts recruiting miners to fill out his ranks- and is threatened into submission by Quaritch.

The other scientists, alongside all the other Avatars we saw in the background, seize the control room during the battle.

There's more but that's what I remember off the top of my head (haven't watched the deleted scenes in a long time).

The stuff added some nice flavor to things and, though I can see dropping some things for pacing and time, i can also the loss of some of that flavor leaving things a little more bland.

 

One detail brought up here that I hadn't thought about- this park is going to be spectacular at night. And narrated by Sigourney Weaver.

 

The Bug's Life 3D show is pretty good as well (plus you get to walk amongst the detailed roots of the giant tree).

(sidenote: giant tree, Avatar.. yeah, its gonna fit right in, heh!)

The bird show (forget the name) is pretty neat as well (though it's kinda a one time thing). Having those huge birds swoop right over your head is pretty cool.

However, I whole heartedly agree they need to fix the Yeti. I was fortunate enough to ride the ride before it ended up in stasis. On the upside- the crowds would likely gravitate towards Avatar Land when it opens (if only on account of it being new, if nothing else), which might finally allow them to close down Everest long enough to fix the Yeti.

 

Well, this is just a tease for this con. They have a similar video of a guy standing in front of a bunch of Star Wars-themed crates (complete with one featuring an Artoo-shaped hole) but no other announcements about Star Wars Land yet.

Also, keep in mind, the plan was always to base it on the first film and the sequels, and they've apparently revised the concepts and design already (another video from a year or two ago had a picture of Cameron and Imagineers lording over a model mock-up, with the guy on stage commenting that it was already completely different from what they were showing in the pic). So they are somewhat contingent on production designs for the sequels being finalized. And I think the Avatar sequels were supposed to start coming out earlier than they currently are slated to be. So that all would contribute to park delay.

 

Even if its not a large scale event and just a special mission, having Na'vi on Earth could be very interesting- either with breath masks or a reverse-Avatar situation with Na'vi piloting human Avatars.

 

Well, my point was that there was always going to be a multi-year wait since it was reliant on the production of the sequels- and the delays in their production would further the park delay and probably explain the concept revisions that also would add to the quiet status of the park.

I have to get around to going back to Universal next time I'm in Florida- the last time I went was when Islands of Adventure first opened and sometime shortly after the Twister attraction replaced Ghostbusters. In that time, they've rethemed Lost Continent into Harry Potter, closed BTTF, Jaws, Earthquake, King Kong & Hanna Barbara... I'm shocked ET is still there.

ET and T2 are the only surviving Studios attractions from the first 10-12 years of my attendance. It's all the more amusing considering it took a couple years for them to get Jaws working in the first place in the 90s.

 

"Jumper" author to write 4 Avatar novels.

From the description I can't tell if these are all adaptations of the films or not. That Cameron isn't writing these himself is news, though- when Avatar first came out he was talking about writing the novel himself, as if the movie was adapted from the book.

 

So, Weaver in A1, Arnie in A2. Clearly we can expect Ed Harris and Winslet in A3 & A4.