Avatar to hit big screen today

James Cameroon’s latest ‘Avatar’ has no doubt raised expec tations to unforeseen le vels ac ross the

globe. But would it outdo the performance of ‘Titanic’ released over a decade ago remains a moot question. Titanic’s collections soared to new highs as people across continents fell in love with the story of a luxury passenger cruiser that sank.

‘Avatar’, a science fiction film has already created a lot of buzz in India. Fox Star Studios India, an arm of the Hollywood production house, Twentieth Century Fox, is releasing it in the country. The buzz is not only due to the fact that it is a Cameroon film, but also because it is by far the costliest film ever made at an estimated $230 million.

The company is releasing more than 700 prints, both in 2D as well as 3D formats. Besides English, the film will also have Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions. There would be 300 – 350 prints in Hindi, 110 – 120 in Telugu and around 100 in Tamil. Fifty prints of the film’s 3D version would be released across the country.

Hollywood studios and their Indian distributing partners have realised that this is the best way to reach out to Indians and increase box office viability, especially for big films.

“There is an incredible buzz around the film in India and we are going all out to give it the best possible release. ‘Avatar’ will be released with 700 prints, which is by far one of the biggest releases for a Hollywood film in India,” said Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India in a recent statement. ‘Avatar’ is a blend of live-action photography and virtual photo realistic production tech ni ques. It features Sam Wo rthington, Sigourney We a ver and Zoe Saldana in main roles.

The film depi cts the story of a wounded ex-marine thrust unwillingly into an effort to expl oit an exotic moon rich in bio-diversity. He eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

“We are pretty optimistic and it has received tremendous enthusiasm from distributors as well as exhibitors. Since, this is a first of its kind movie, we have to see how well the audience receive it,” Vivek Krishnani, head of marketing & distribution, Fox Star Studios India told Financial Chronicle.

Sathyam Cinemas, the film’s distributor in Tamil Nadu plans to release ‘Avatar’ with close to around 100 prints, including the digital version. Of this, five screens, including three in Chennai, will play the 3D version, while a few others will screen the English version in 2D and the rest the Tamil version.