Avatar Timeline

Development

1994: director James Cameron wrote a 80-page scriptment for Avatar. Cameron said his inspiration was "every single science fiction book I read as a kid"

August 1996: Cameron announced that after completing Titanic, he would film Avatar, which would make use of "synthetic", or computer generated, actors. The project would cost $100 million and involve at least six actors in leading roles "who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world". Visual effects house Digital Domain, with whom Cameron has a partnership, joined the project, which was supposed to begin production in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release.

June 2005: Cameron was announced to be working on a project tentatively titled "Project 880"

February 2006: He indicated that the release of Project 880 would possibly be delayed until 2008. Later that February, Cameron revealed that Project 880 was "a retooled version of Avatar", a film that he had tried to make years earlier, citing the technological advances in the creation of the computer-generated characters such as Gollum and King Kong.

January to April 2006: Cameron worked on the script. Working with Dr. Paul Frommer linguist and Director of the Center for Management Communication at USC, he developed a Na'vi launguage and culture, the indigenous race on Pandora.

July 2006: Cameron announced that he would film Avatar for a summer 2008 release and planned to begin principal photography with an established cast by February 2007. The following August, the visual effects studio Weta Digital signed on to help Cameron produce Avatar.

September 2006: Cameron was announced to be using his own Reality Camera System to film in 3-D. The system would use two high-definition cameras in a single camera body to create depth perception.

December 2006: Cameron described Avatar as "a futuristic tale set on a planet 200 years hence [...] an old-fashioned jungle adventure with an environmental conscience [that] aspires to a mythic level of storytelling".

January 2007: the press release described the film: "Avatar is also an emotional journey of redemption and revolution. It is the story of a wounded former Marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in biodiversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival," and "We're creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmogorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language."

December 2009: AVATAR IS RELEASED