Award Winning Weta Digital Ramps Up For AVATAR Sequels

6 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects. 10 Academy Science and Technology Awards. 6 BAFTA Awards for Best Special Visual Effects. 6 VES Awards for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature.

Yep. Weta Digital knows what they are doing. Peter Jackson's sandbox builds amazing things and now they are ramping up for James Cameron's AVATAR sequels. With over ~$1 billion in production budget for AVATAR and the immense success that Cameron's films enjoy, obviously, his 4 sequels will command the best in the world at what they do. Enter Weta Digital.

Says Cameron: "What Joe Letteri and Weta Digital bring to these stories is impossible to quantify. Since we made Avatar, Weta continued to prove themselves as doing the best CG animation, the most human, the most alive, the most photo-realistic effects in the world. And of course, that now means I can push them to take it even further."

Can you imagine what surprises Cameron and Weta Digital have in store for us in these movies? A lot of time has passed. A LOT. Technology has improved by leaps and bounds. I can't wait to see what these guys have built and are building.

Source: Deadline

Three Great BTS Videos of THE HOBBIT Visual Effects!

Hey all, Tim here, and I came upon an article written for the LA Times Hero Complex that has an interview with THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. I've embedded the videos below, but you can also view them along with reading the full interview here.

The interview may be familiar to MarketSaw readers, but the videos are amazing. They show great behind the scenes processes used by WETA Digital to bring the amazing digital characters in THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY to life. It's a task just bringing Gollum to life, but to also have to bring the Goblin King and Azog to life along with all the other digital characters is an amazing feat for one film. A job well done.

It should be noted that besides being nominated for their visual effects work on THE HOBBIT: AUJ, WETA is also nominated for their contributions to Prometheus and The Avengers, however AUJ is the only one that had all the work done in one place... at WETA. WETA's work on THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is my pick for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards for this last year.
 

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is still in theaters in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and HFR 3D. It's on route to make $1 Billion at the worldwide box office. If you haven't had the opportunity to check it out yet, there's no better time than now.

**UPDATED - Is This A Jaeger From PACIFIC RIM?

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS**

**UPDATE: Apparently not. Guillermo has stated that this clip has nothing to do with PACIFIC RIM. Oh well. Still nice.

WHOA. A very nice spoiler if it's true and certainly the footage is bound to have some pedigree from Guillermo del Toro's PACIFIC RIM due to the nature of the visual FX company Mirada and the guy who owns it: Guillermo del Toro.

Due to the nature of the video and the screencaps I have posted for you, you are risking a pristine viewing experience by going further. You have been warned.

Hit the jump for more...

Click to enlarge

Yes, it's a giant robot and it's firing shoulder mounted missiles at something. There's a nice sequence revealing a forearm based missile system as well.

The size of the robot is on par with the office buildings beside it. Perhaps some concept work that was done prior to PACIFIC RIM? Regardless, it looks darn good.

In fact the whole clip is amazing. Looks like Merida means business and is here for the long run.

PACIFIC RIM stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi, Max Martini, Clifton Collins Jr., Rob Kazinsky, and Diego Klattenhoff.

Click to enlarge

Here's the storyline from the movie:
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

PACIFIC RIM opens on July 12, 2013.

Check out the VFX reel (specifically at 1:14):



Source: CBM via Collider