ROTTEN TOMATOES: Avatar Pushed Back; Night at the Museum 2 Moved Up

Avatar Pushed Back; Night at the Museum 2 Moved Up

Also: Ice Age 3 being produced in digital 3-D.

by Jeff Giles | December 12, 2007

Now that studio executives don't have to worry about all those pesky new scripts coming in all the time, they can concentrate on the fun stuff -- like playing with the 2009 release schedule.

The biggest changes are taking place at 20th Century Fox, where James Cameron's Avatar has been pushed back from May to December 18, 2009. Taking its place? Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian, which will be released May 22, 2009.

The Avatar shift, according to Variety, was made in order to allow Cameron more time in post-production, as well as giving theater chains more time to install additional 3-D screens. Meanwhile, the Museum 2 news is the first official sign that Fox is moving forward with a sequel to the first Night at the Museum. The second installment was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, with a rewrite by Scott Frank, and will be the first major film to be shot at the Smithsonian. The filmmakers are pursuing Reese Witherspoon to play Amelia Earhart.

Fox Animation's Ice Age 3 -- which will reunite the voice talents of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, and John Leguizamo -- is staying put at July 1, 2009, but the studio has announced that the sequel will be produced in digital 3-D.

Fox Film Group chair Hutch Parker, unsurprisingly, called the moves "a win-win for us."

Source: Variety

Related Items

Movie:	Avatar
	Night at the Museum
	Ice Age: The Meltdown
	Ice Age
Celeb:	Thomas Lennon
	Robert Ben Garant
	Scott Frank
	James Cameron
	Ray Romano
	Denis Leary
	Reese Witherspoon
	Queen Latifah
	John Leguizamo

(1-17 of 17 posts) | Reply

T45Red writes:
on Dec 12 2007 08:48 AM

The only thing I'm looking forward to on this list is Avatar. I have high expectations for James Cameron and I am really interested in seeing what he can do with new technology and film making. This movie should be great.

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Kollikodon writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:16 AM

God Avatar isnt coming out until almost 2010...

Ill be 21 by the time it comes out...

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arendr writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:27 AM

Haha, that headline is like a foretelling of the Apocalypse (even though I don't have much interest in Avatar).

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sfsilver writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:31 AM

Ice Age 3...please tell me I didn't read that.

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:37 AM

I'm really looking forward to Avatar, that sucks that it's even farthur away now, I guess its for the better though.

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dahluzz writes:
on Dec 12 2007 10:08 AM

cameron is allowed to do whatever he feels like, but i still reserve the right to be pissed.

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BReeG writes:
on Dec 12 2007 11:18 AM

Well, if that headline isn't insult to injury for the geek massive then I don't know what it.

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kROCK writes:
on Dec 12 2007 02:34 PM

Man, i was really lookimng forward to Avatar, but now I have to wait years for it....

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Creekboy writes:
on Dec 12 2007 02:36 PM

How do you make a Night at the Museum sequel? What does the Ben Stiller character go on vacation and just bring this tablet thing with him? Does he get transferred? At the same time does Fox think theatre chains are really going to have that many more digital 3D screens by then?

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Canuck666 writes:
on Dec 12 2007 02:48 PM

Night at the Museum 2? What's next, Passion of the Christ 2: Back from the Dead?

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thereign writes:
on Dec 12 2007 03:34 PM

My question is, when is the Ice Age going to actually catch up and kill all those animated bastards?

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Simple Minded writes:
on Dec 12 2007 03:42 PM

Geez! That's a MAJOR push for Avatar. This sucks man...

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South Texas Terror writes:
on Dec 12 2007 04:34 PM

I'd rather watch a movie that takes 4 years to make than 4 months. Avatar sounds good enough on paper that Ill wait patiently. I'm not into kid movies so I cant comment on the rest but my girlfriend is excited Ice Age so that tells me it will suck.

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Ratchetcomand writes:
on Dec 12 2007 06:54 PM

Wow that Avatar was push back, i was going to see that movie when it came out.

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WiseGuy writes:
on Dec 13 2007 01:10 AM

If I remember correctly the exact same thing happened to Cameron's Titanic back in 1997. It was supposed to be released in late July of that year but then Fox and Cameron decided to push it back to Christmas. I think that Fox and Cameron both smell a gigantic hit and that they hope lightning will strike twice.

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xeronic writes:
on Dec 13 2007 02:57 AM

im sorry, but just because a movie makes money does not mean its a good movie... i know studios love their money and all, but god, night at the museum was horrible... ice age has nothing going for it, stop with the crap. ><

bleh rants

anyways, sucks about avatar... 2011 or 12? holy crap, cameron and teams better have some "excellent" new technology with this many years in production. ^_^

and a side note, i miss 2d animation. It really hit me when watching "enchanted" with my g/f, seeing everything drawn and really nice looking, its a shame the last one i can really think of is Treasure planet. =/

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Young Turk writes:
on Dec 13 2007 03:18 AM

Does anyone here even know what Avatar is about? I read a short snippette on IMDB but that really doesn't clarify much. Any thoughts?

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