Ubisoft channelling James Cameron's Avatar

Academy Award-winning director's upcoming game tie-in to be published, developed by French company; to be released in conjunction with film in May 2009.

Since announcing his intention to pair his next big-budget blockbuster with a "major game title," James Cameron's upcoming game(s) has/have generated a maelstrom of confusion in the gaming industry.

During the 2005 Game Developers Conference, Cameron appeared in a video montage touting the capabilities of Microsoft's next-gen console, prompting many to assume that the acclaimed director's project would find its way to the Xbox 360. At the time, Cameron's next film project, as reported by Comingsoon.net, was slated to be a live-action version of Battle Angle Alita, a manga-turned-anime series that takes place in a futuristic, postapocalyptic world.

In February 2006, Cameron spoke to BusinessWeek and seemingly confirmed this project. He also included the interesting tidbit that the project would be a massively multiplayer online game. However, Cameron didn't specify that the project was Battle Angel, instead referring to it as "Project 808."

The plot thickened further in June 2006, when a casting call appearing on film-industry blog Movie City News indicated that Cameron's upcoming project was, in fact, not based on Battle Angel Alita. Instead, Cameron was holding auditions for Project 808, which turned out to be the filmmaker's decade-long pet project Avatar, also rooted in a sci-fi universe. While the casting call remained unconfirmed, it indicated that Project 808, now dubbed Avatar, would be the inspiration for Cameron's upcoming MMOG project, and not Battle Angel.

With at least one film's existence officially pegged, definitive details on the game tie-in have begun to surface. France-based publisher Ubisoft sent word today that it will be developing and publishing the game version of Cameron's upcoming film Avatar, which is currently in production. However, aside from it taking place in Cameron's Avatar universe, today's announcement neglected to mention a genre or platform for the game. A release window of May 2009 was given, to coincide with the theatrical premiere of Avatar.

Avatar tells the tale of an ex-Marine who is able to manifest his consciousness in the body of an alien being. Thus far, the cast includes Sam Worthington (Somersault), Zoe Saldana (Guess Who), and Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters). The filmmaker's other work includes Titantic, The Terminator, and Aliens.

18 Comments

  • pakhair

    Posted Jun 2, 2009 6:30 pm PT

    Gr8 News it was

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 3:43 pm PT

    Yeah. Ubisoft dedicates it self to quality and everygame they've released is really good, if not great. They don't just crank out games for cash, they put effort into it. Go Frenchies! If anyone can turn something obscure and un-noticed like this into a game, it's Ubisoft. again, Go Frenchies!

  • digi_dragon324

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    hell yea ubisoft seems to fix everything everyone else breaks. people stopped believing movie tie in games could be good, but they will undoubtedly blow away that expectation.

    just look at what they did with the Naruto franchise!

  • spotato

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 1:37 pm PT

    At least it's not EA doing it. I'm so sick of EA and its crappy movie games.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 9:51 am PT

    looks like they have alot of time to make a good game

  • Sonovius

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 7:26 am PT

    dude Ghostbusters was the pinnacle of all movies.

  • GaussGoat

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 7:14 am PT

    lmao, I love how they have Sigourney Weaver's major film credit as "Ghostbusters" instead of the Alien franchise... are they kidding? Don't get me wrong, I loved Ghostbusters, but lol come on!

    Regarding the news, I couldn't be happier that Cameron is doing this project... he's arguably the best director in Hollywood. The game tie-in sounds interesting, especially since Ubisoft is handling it.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 7:02 am PT

    At least the game won't have to be rushed to meet the movie's release. 2009 should give them ample time.

  • markB0SS

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 6:36 am PT

    uber interesting. Cameron rules.

  • NeoNavarro

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 6:22 am PT

    All I can say is lets see what happens. I don't want to make any quick judgements just yet.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 4:30 am PT

    -I sure hope he gives the full treatment to the game, that he has given to his other project$. Oh, and that it comes out for the PC.

  • darkchaostitan

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:43 pm PT

    This may or may not be a good title, I just don't see enough to judge it any. With Ubisofts success in the market lately, there shouldn't be any skimps on production.

  • dQuarters

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:40 pm PT

    I was hoping they were talking about the Nick cartoon

  • basketcasetct

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:39 pm PT

    I hope this will be good

  • pcmacro

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:27 pm PT

    Interesting.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:14 pm PT

    Well being the skeptic I am I'll give it 50 / 50 at this point for being any good.

  • runstalker

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:14 pm PT

    No genre has been confirmed, but if Cameron wants to make a MMO and Ubisoft's involved.... perhaps we'll finally get a real "next-gen MMO" that all the other pretenders keep promising.

  • Bansheesdie

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:12 pm PT

    I love Cameron's work, so this may actually be a decent game.

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