The Top 10 Lists

10. Promotional items were shipped to cinemas under the name "Project 880".

9. Seeing the character of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) convinced James Cameron that CGI effects had progressed enough to make this film.

8. Although Cameron also wrote and directed Aliens (1986) and Sigourney Weaver appears as principle star in both movies, Avatar features a totally different alien world along with unique beings, creatures, and locale.

7. A casting call was posted on the website of Mali Finn Casting in early December 2005 for the female lead. The casting call was erroneously reported to be for James Cameron's Battle Angel (2011). However, Battle Angel will be the second of the back-to-back Cameron projects with a likely 2013 release.

6. Michael Biehn was considered for the role of Col. Quaritch. He met with James Cameron three times and saw some of the 3D footage, but in the end it simply came down to the fact that Cameron didn't want people thinking it was Aliens (1986) all over again, as Sigourney Weaver had already been cast.

5. The movie is 40% live action and 60% photo-realistic CGI. A lot of motion capture technology was used for the CGI scenes.

4. Sigourney Weaver plays a James Cameron persona for her character in this film. Sigourney stated in an interview, "I teased him because to me I'm playing Jim Cameron in the movie as this kind of brilliant, approach-driven, idealistic perfectionist. But that same somebody has a great heart underneath. So I have to say I was always kind of channeling him."

3. Announced on June 14, 2005 in the Hollywood Reporter, James Cameron's untitled "Project 880" is a parallel project being developed alongside Battle Angel (2011). It will use the same digital-3D camera system (developed by Vince Pace) and virtual production studio (developed by Robert Legato) that Cameron will use on Battle Angel.

2. James Cameron originally attempted to get this film made in 1999 as his immediate follow-up to Titanic (1997). However, at the time, the special effects he wanted for the movie ran the proposed budget up to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was subsequently shelved for almost ten years.

1. James Cameron's first feature film since Titanic (1997).

Souce: Movie Trivia