Lang & Rodriguez for Avatar

James Cameron's huge $190 million sci-fi flick Avatar is coming out next year? It seems like this movie has been forever in production but we're still a long way from seeing the final product. Hell, they haven't even finished casting yet. Variety report that former Lost actress Michelle Rodriguez and stage actor Stephen Lang have both signed up for roles in the movie. Lang will play a seasoned Marine Corps colonel whilst Rodriguez has been cast as an ex-marine pilot. The join the cast that already includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Laz Alonso, Joel Moore, Wes Studi, Peter Mensah and CCH Pounder. I have a bit of a spoft spot for Rodriguez so I like this casting and although I'm struggling to remember ever seeing Lang, his resume in theatre acting means we have no reason to worry over him. Indeed, it's said in the Variety article that he tried out for a role in Aliens way back when but Cameron cast somebody else, but it seems he has never forgot him some 21 years later. AICN are also reporting that Cameron has hired a cinematographer for the movie. His name is Mauro Fiore and you will have seen his work in Smokin' Aces, The Island, Tears of the Sun and Training Day. He also worked on Peter Berg's upcoming movie The Kingdom. All those movies were absolutely stunning to watch (I loved his work in Smokin' Aces), so it would appear he has chosen well. Avatar is currently in production over at LA but it's scheduled to move over to New Zealand in October so it can work closely with Weta Digital's visual effects unit. Thirty one days of live action photography is also scheduled for the Weta soundstages.