It really doesn’t surprise me at all that AVATAR on DVD and Blu-ray would have multiple releases, but sadly it sounds like they are going actively work towards some major double-dipping. In an interview with MTV, James Cameron spoke about the upcoming releases and what to expect.
Check out what he had to say after the jump!
From all the information we have, it looks like there will be a bare-bones version of the film available by early summer (June 30th is noted). Of course the big question was if a 3D version would be available, Cameron responded with a little information about 3D televisions and then said this:
“We’re going to put ‘Avatar’ out probably in November on 3-D — barebones, just the movie — and then we’ll follow up with some kind of special edition 3-D [release] later down the line.”
Maybe it’s just me, but whenever you are releasing a second version five months after the first release, that should be the special edition. They never speak of a non 3D special edition version at all. If a version like this isn’t made, it would be rather maddening honestly. A film with the caliber of special effects that AVATAR has could easily sell an edition packed with special features for a significantly higher price.
When asked about some sort of extended version or director’s cut, Cameron mentions that many of the extra scenes are unfinished and abandoned early into their production. He explains:
“There are the performances; you can really see what the scene would have been, but it doesn’t have that magical realism of the finished film. So to put those scenes in without finishing them… will be for fans. For real fans who want to know more about the characters and so on.”
He also goes on to say that they have about five or six minutes of fully finished footage they could put back into the film, but the rest would be the unfinished footage.
I’m curious, what do you guys think of all this? How many different versions of AVATAR are you willing to buy?
Source: MTV
John Mulhern Writes 
I'd certainly be willing to buy both an original version and special edition with added scenes. Even if they aren't fully developed, people are so hungry for the world of Pandora that anything would be desirable over nothing. AVATAR is definitely in a unique place as far as the level of refinement that needed to be done; so, fixing up some thrown out scenes isn't too possible, considering they would have been cut out long before the tedious post-processing.Regardless, I wouldn't put it past James Cameron to go the extra mile for the sake of his dream. I'd only hope that he also has a love for the Blu-Ray format and gives us all sorts of goodies that truly take advantage of the Blu-Ray technology unlike anything before it. This movie has the potential to truly push that technology into more homes if done well.
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I agree, I would buy both too. I just think it is a little silly to wait what will probably be a whole year before releasing a special edition. We'll see though, maybe they'll surprise us.
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I'd certainly be willing to buy both an original version and special edition with added scenes. Even if they aren't fully developed, people are so hungry for the world of Pandora that anything would be desirable over nothing. AVATAR is definitely in a unique place as far as the level of refinement that needed to be done; so, fixing up some thrown out scenes isn't too possible, considering they would have been cut out long before the tedious post-processing.Regardless, I wouldn't put it past James Cameron to go the extra mile for the sake of his dream. I'd only hope that he also has a love for the Blu-Ray format and gives us all sorts of goodies that truly take advantage of the Blu-Ray technology unlike anything before it. This movie has the potential to truly push that technology into more homes if done well.
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I agree, I would buy both too. I just think it is a little silly to wait what will probably be a whole year before releasing a special edition. We'll see though, maybe they'll surprise us.
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Out of all directors, I wouldn't be surprised at all for Cameron to pull out a surprise or two. 😉
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