James Cameron's 16-Minute 'Avatar' Trailer Premieres in Theaters on August 21

The 16-minute trailer for James Cameron's much-anticipated movie Avatar will debut in participating IMAX theaters on Friday, August 21st. Cameron's first movie since 1997's Titanic, Avatar is touted as a revolutionary special effects-laden tale of aliens and humans in a futuristic world on the planet Pandora.

Actual footage of the years-long project has been kept top-secret. Cameron allowed certain scenes to be shown to a rapt audience of nerds at this year's Comic-Con, with first impressions described by movie websites like Cinematical, and some stills and artwork have been leaked out in the past few weeks. However, Cameron intends the movie to be shown in 3-D in IMAX, so Friday's sneak preview will be a more authentic experience.

The tickets to the IMAX preview will be doled out on a first come, first served basis on Monday, August 17, on Avatar's official website. The extended trailer will only be available in IMAX Theatres, but don't worry... the regular trailer will be available online on Friday, August 21, as well as the trailer for the Ubisoft Avatar video game.

What is Avatar about anyway? According to a press release on the official Avatar website, "Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, Avatar 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."

The movie premieres on December 18th. It stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation), Sigourney Weaver (Alien), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious), and Giovanni Ribisi (Boiler Room). However, the actors might be taking a back seat to the film's special effects, which are rumored to involve seamless CGI. Allegedly, the audience won't be able to tell where the CGI begins and ends.

James Cameron has always been behind new developments in motion picture special effects. Films like The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day introduced the world to the seamless "liquid metal" special effect. He certainly knows how to wow a crowd of people in a darkened movie theater, even if it is just a taste of things to come.

Cinematical, "The Final Word: Avatar Comic Con Footage"
Avatar Website