Have you ever seen a movie trailer before they filmed a single frame of the movie? watch:

You might have recognized borrowed images from  Avatar, The Island, and Minority Report among others. This trailer is based on the Serbian comic book Technotise created by Aleksa Gajić and Darko Grkinić. A sequel to the comic has already been successfully adapted into a full-length animated film entitled Technotise: Edit & I. Jaron Pitts is the man behind the trailer, his YouTube page says he made it “for some producers in Hollywood who are making this into a live-action” film. I have to agree with whoever decided to put Milla Jovovich in the starring role, she’s perfect for the film and genre. So I’m wondering what you think, any Technotise comic book fans out there? Anyone see the animated film? Do you want to see a live-action adaptation? Who would you have play the lead? Here’s the trailer for the animated film for those who have not seen it:

Although James Cameron’s Avatar may continue to sweep the box office and garner stellar word-of-mouth reviews, there remain those who are less than pleased with the visually stunning pic.

While most of the world’s cinemas have released Avatar with a PG-13 rating attached, Fox will be releasing the film in Italy with unrestricted access. Generally, Italy releases movies with one of two restrictions attached: under 14 not admitted, or under 18 not admitted.

The fact that Avatar is making it into theaters sans restrictions on who can see it has Italian parents up in arms. Two different organizations, Moige and AGE, are both protesting the general admission release of the film when it was released in the U.S. with a more restricted admission due to “intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.”

Moige, an organization for parents, argues that the film’s rating should be increased, saying that even President Obama complied with the film’s PG-13 rating and accompanied his daughters—both under age 13—to see Avatar. According to the group, this suggests that Italy’s rating system “represents a discrimination against the protection of Italian children.”

The children’s advocacy organization AGE also argues that Italy should change its rating system, and adopt a system closer to that used in the U.S.

Avatar is being released on over 900 screens in Italy, which only adds to the distaste the rating has left in the mouths of Italy’s parents.

Only 17 days after its premiere, Avatar will place itself among the most successful films in history by becoming only the fifth film ever to make $ 1 billion in worldwide box office sales.

Let’s put this in perspective: it took The Dark Knight 231 days to pass the coveted $1 billion mark back in 2008 and James Cameron’s other blockbuster Titanic, 44 days. Now, barely halfway into its second week, Cameron’s Avatar needs roughly $352.1 million domestically to glide across that finish line.

While Avatar was admittedly never intended to be a box office topper, it is currently doing so in Russia and is actually the best selling Hollywood movie ever in France, India and South Korea!

In this week’s Entertainment Weekly, the magazine tried to uncover the secret of the film’s success, since it had no franchise to build off of like most of its predecessors. According to Box Office Mojo, the fifth most successful film was The Dark Knight, then Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. In fact, the only movie to reach $1 billion outside a franchise was Cameron’s Titanic, the most successful movie of all time.

EW concluded the success lay in the glasses. Not only do some theaters charge up to $18.50 for IMAX tickets, but the buzz created by the new technology could be the cause for sold-out screenings.

Cameron is $800 million away from breaking his own box office record. So what if 75% of Avatar’s total worldwide gross was from the more expensive 3-D or IMAX tickets? Avatar may just become the highest grossing film, ever! If not it will certainly continue to break all kinds of other records, like the best gross ever for a film in its third fourth fifth weekend !

So what do you think? Does Pocahontas errrr I mean Avatar have what it takes to break the reigning champs record? Let us know in the comments below! See you there!

James Cameron’s recently opened Avatar may not have ousted I Am Legend as the biggest December weekend opener (Return of the King takes the cake for all-time highest grossing December release, but came out on a weekday), but it certainly did well in its first day.

The film’s release at 3,452 theaters saw an intake of $27 million, which is shy of the $30 million brought in by I Am Legend, but is the highest grossing release for a Twentieth Century Fox production released outside of summer. Ice Age: The Meltdown previously held the record, with first day earnings of $21.8 million

Avatar‘s opening came one day short of being exactly twelve years after the release of Cameron’s blockbuster Titanic, and saw more than three times the earnings the 1997 megahit saw it its first day. For comparison, Titanic‘s opening brought in only $8.7 million in its opening. Much of the success of Titanic was thanks to word of mouth, and stellar exit polls suggest that the same will also prove true for Avatar.

The sci-fi action flick swept the box office competition on Friday, with the second biggest film of the day, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, bringing in a mere $3.4 million. The Blind Side stayed in third with $3.2 million, while the only other opener of the weekend, Sony’s Did You Hear About the Morgans, started its run in 4th, with $2.4 million.

I’ll admit right now that I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy-sci-fi. I don’t dislike the genre, it just isn’t one of my favorites. Thus, I have not caught the fever surrounding James Cameron’s latest film, the animated adventure Avatar.

While I personally may have a lackluster enthusiasm for the movie, the amount Avatar made in its midnight showings definitely proves that a lot of moviegoers were all about the 3D epic.

In midnight openings at nearly 2,000 theaters nationwide, Avatar brought in $3.5 million, and tickets for today’s matinee performances sold out quickly. This is a strong start for an animated film, and the movie is expected to do well over the entirety of its run.

Avatar has already opened in a limited number of foreign territories, and saw close to the same success at those locations as in the United States. This suggests the film will see heavy box office earnings when the film expands its international launch.

If Avatar keeps up the numbers it saw in its midnight openings, the movie has a chance of beating out I Am Legend as being the highest grossing December opening of all time. An impressive feat for both an animated film, and a movie based on a completely original idea, rather than following a franchise.

Have you seen Avatar yet? Do you plan on seeing it? Let us know your thoughts on the film!

MTV and Facebook are teaming up to host a live webcast for filmmaker James Cameron’s epic adventure Avatar.

“Avatar Live” will stream in HD simultaneously on MTV.com and Facebook on December 3, 2009 at 3:00pm ET and followed by an all-new “Behind the Screen” Avatar-themed episode on MTV in December.

The three-hour event will present exclusive footage and give fans the chance to engage in live discussion with Cameron and two of the film’s stars, Sam Worthington and Zoë Saldana.

The movie is set to hit theaters and IMAX 3D on Dec. 18.

Twentieth Century Fox has just released the interactive trailer for the upcoming Avatar.

Built on Adobe AIR software, which users can easily download, the trailer will give behind the scenes looks at various aspects of the film. Fox will update the trailer until the movie is released, and those who download Adobe AIR will have the updates streamed directly to their desktops.

To call the trailer interactive is in no way an overstatement. Users can watch the extended trailer for Avatar, view short films about the vision, design, and technology of the film’s characters and location, buy tickets for the movie, and even connect with Avatar social networking feeds.

For a peek of what’s in store, check out this video that tells about the creation of the Banshees.

Philip and I (above) will be there for your Comic-Con goodness!

What am I talking about when it comes to Thursday? Well I’m referring to the lovely absolutely wonderful list of panels to check out at this year’s 40th San Diego Comic-Con International. Amongst the glitz and glamour that the Con has brought into its hallways amongst the burst of popularity on comic book adaptations, the pure love of all things comics still reigns supreme.

From James Cameron’s Avatar, Terry Gilliam’s the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus to Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga: New Moon, there are plenty of movies to choose from. Those of us here from Atomic Popcorn will be going to the Con, so we will have by the hour updates on each big time panel from comics, television and movies and some interviews for you to watch as well. Interested in seeing what the list is? Tired of me typing and want to get your list ready so you can figure out how early you have to show up in front of Hall H to see your most anticipated panel of the day? Check out Thursday’s Comic-Con Schedule here and keep your eyes peeled. By the end of the weekend, the entire schedule will most likely be listed, so we will keep you up to date on that and everything else Comic-Con right here!