Get ready for Avatar day (well, “evening,” really) on Friday, Aug. 21

by John P. Meyer

If you want to get into one of the two-at-each-venue screenings for the teaser presentation of clips from James Cameron's (reportedly) amazing new movie Avatar, then act fast. The Dallas-area theaters hosting the one-night-only shows are:

Cinemark IMAX Theatre at Cinemark 17

AMC Firewheel 18 with IMAX

AMC Mesquite 30 & IMAX

According to what I'm seeing on the film's official website -- from whence you can reserve passes -- they're going pretty fast.

We'll be giving you more information about this -- director Cameron's first theatrical, non-documentary film since 1997's Titanic -- as things develop, but for now we wanted you to get first shot at the tickets for this special preview event.

The movie itself releases in the U.S. (no doubt to great fanfare) on December 18.

Here's the press release:

LOS ANGELES, August 17, 2009 – Twentieth Century Fox announced today additional information about its global, history-making AVATAR DAY event when, on August 21, the world will get its first look at director James Cameron’s motion picture epic AVATAR. In this unprecedented experience, the studio and Cameron debut the film’s trailer everywhere, while select cinemas and IMAX® theaters will screen select scenes in 3-D, prepared by the renowned filmmaker.

The worldwide trailer launch will be presented in all formats, including IMAX® 3-D, IMAX® 2-D, digital 3-D, digital 2-D, and 35mm 2-D. The trailer will also be available online.

The extended look at AVATAR will unspool for two showings only on the evening of August 21. The U.S. showings will be in select IMAX® 3-D theaters, and international unveilings will be in select digital 3-D and IMAX® 3-D theaters. Information on reserving tickets for these very limited showings will be available beginning August 17, 3:00pm EDT (noon PDT), at avatarmovie.com.

In addition on the 21st, Fox will take the wraps off its special “3-D”/lenticular one-sheet posters for the film, Ubisoft® will unveil the trailer for their videogame James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, and Mattel will reveal the action figures for the film’s Avatar and alien Na’vi characters.

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.