Earlier today it was announced that Avatar will be rereleased exclusively in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D beginning in late August as Avatar: Special Edition. The new version of the film will contain 8 minutes of unseen footage, which is expected to include a Sturmbeest hunt with the Na’vi, an extended “sex” scene, among other things.

This second release will probably bring Avatar worldwide box office numbers above $3 billion, and it will be the first movie to reach that amount (just as it was with $2 billion).

Dates for the beginning of the rerelease in different countries are listed below.

United States (and most likely Canada) – August 27, 2010
Belgium – September 8, 2010
Russia – August 26, 2010
Spain -September 17, 2010
United Kingdom – August 27, 2010
Australia – August 26, 2010
India – August 27, 2010
Japan – October 16, 2010
South Korea – September 16, 2010
Mexico – October 15, 2010
Argentina – September 16, 2010

After just four days of being released in the United States and Canada, Avatar has already become the bestselling Blu-ray movie ever. It has sold an approximate 2.7 million Blu-ray copies and 4 million DVD copies in the domestic market so far. The Dark Knight held the previous record selling 2.5 million Blu-ray discs since its release.

Avatar is also now the biggest disc launch of the year, beating New Moon‘s combined 4 million DVD and Blu-ray sales in early March.

Europe is also proving to be a good market for the movie. It sold a combined 400,000 DVD and Blu-ray movies in France since Thursday, becoming the biggest disc launch in the country’s history; and is on top of the charts in Germany. It was released in Britain today, so there aren’t yet any sales numbers.

Source: Los Angeles Time

Avatar has another sales record to add to its long list of achievements! On April 22nd, the Blu-ray version of the film is estimated to have sold 1.5 million copies, the most of any Blu-ray release to date, and combined sales of DVD and Blu-ray is expected to have been well above 4 million copies. The previous record-holder was The Dark Knight.

A representative from Fox said that retailers sold 60% of their Blu-ray stock, and big-box stores moved 50% of their DVDs. It is expected that Avatar will become the year’s best-selling disc release. The current leader is New Moon which has sold 6.5 million DVD and Blu-ray discs.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, James Cameron revealed that he wants to explore more of the Alpha Centuri AB star system in the movies, but that the second film will still be on Pandora and will explore the moon’s ocean.

He said that they “will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative” as the rainforests we saw in the first movie, and that we will still see more of those as well. If Cameron wants to expand further into the star system, I think we can guarantee the return of the RDA in future movies.

The extended theatrical rerelease of Avatar that we’ve been hearing about for the past couple months has now been confirmed to be coming out in August by James Cameron.

There will be six minutes of new footage added to the movie for release in August, but contrary to previous reports, the longer sex scene will not be one of them. Cameron didn’t specify what we’d see in those six minutes, but said that Weta Digital is working on them now.

When looking at the numbers, Cameron made a good case for releasing the movie again because he believes audiences still want to watch it. He said that earnings went from declining 8% a week to 50% a week because of the other big 3D movies that had to take over the screens.

Today is Earth Day, which means Avatar has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America!

Unlike many disc releases, this version of Avatar contains only the movie and a simple menu. There are no special features, deleted scenes, or trailers before the movie starts. This is said to allow for a high-quality video and sound in the movie.

If you haven’t yet bought the movie, you can do so here. If you have, feel free to comment with your thoughts!

James Cameron has called the Alberta tar sands a “black eye” on Canada’s environmental record, and said that it is the “wrong solution” for energy. In light of those statements, Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach and Environment Minister Rob Renner ave invited Cameron to visit the development.

The two politicians think Cameron got the wrong impression of the tar sands, and want him to see it both on the ground, and from the air. They think that by providing him the additional information he doesn’t have, he will be able to form a more informed opinion.

According to James Cameron, half of all preorders for Avatar so far are for the Blu-ray version of the movie. This is a first, as Blu-ray usually makes up only 15% of most movie sales.

At an event in West Hollywood, Cameron said he thinks the same is happening in homes as what happened in theatres: people are choosing to pay more for the premium experience.

He also talked about the environmental aspect of the film, saying that he has been an environmentalist for a long time, but making Avatar took it to a new level. With the release of the movie on DVD and Blu-ray, Cameron hopes more children will be able to see it and that they will become “warriors for our planet, or else it’s not going to survive.”

While talking about the upcoming release of Avatar, James Cameron said it would be “dumb” to watch the movie on iPhone because the screen is so small. He also said the movie shouldn’t be watched on a laptop, but does understand there are occasions when it’s acceptable (travelling, on vacation, etc).

Despite his thoughts, Avatar will go on sale on iTunes in May.

James Cameron talked to Sci-fi Wire about the scenes that will be added in the summer theatre rerelease, and the November extended DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Although he isn’t yet sure whether or not the movie will be rereleased this summer, Cameron said that if it is, the parts they cut from the sex scene with Jake and Neytiri will be included. He admitted that people were freaked out about it at first, but he’s going to include it in the extended theatre release regardless.

When speaking about the November extended release, Cameron acknowledged that he thinks fans will want to see how they made the movie, and that special features will further explain the process. He said there was a four-and-a-half-minute section that takes place on Earth before Jake goes to Pandora, and that it will be included as a deleted scene, but not in the actual movie. Part of that is a barfight with Jake in his wheelchair.