Sad because you’re not at Comic Con this weekend? Sucks to miss out on the panel for Jim Cameron’s Avatar footage? I feel you. I’m in the same boat. However, I’m happy to not be lumped together in the close proximity of a half a million costumed fans for four days. Not my idea of fun regardless of the cinematic happenings. However, that hasn’t stopped me from living vicariously through other attendees in the comfort of my air-conditioned home. I want to share that status with you.

Apparently the Avatar panel at Comic Con recently concluded and the footage was expectedly awesome. But what about the poor, but comfortable souls who weren’t in attendance? When are we going to see some footage? At the end of the panel, Cameron made one final announcement. He said Avatar plans to take over as many IMAX 3D theaters and selected 3D theaters on August 21st and let a global audience see 15 minutes of Avatar for free. It’s been dubbed “Avatar Day.”

In truth, I’d almost rather see a good trailer than 15 minutes and the fact that it’s free frightens me as to what crowds await such a thing, but I do think it’s briliilant idea from a marketing standpoint. I’m positive it will have people fiending for the December 18th, 2009 release. I can’t wait. Can you?  Below are some images and the official synopsis of the film.

Director: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron
Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron’s return to feature directing since helming 1997′s Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars® including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.

Courtesy of our good friend Chuck Curry at entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com, he advised me of the Comic Con video that you see below which is the Panel conducted on Avatar with James Cameron.  Enjoy!