Film News Roundup: ‘Avatar’ Will Be on Disney Plus at Launch

Dave McNary

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In today’s film news roundup, “Avatar” gets a streaming date, Trace Adkins and Thora Birch join disaster thriller “13 Minutes,” and Jamie Bell and Ruby Rose get voice cast roles.

STREAMING

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James Cameron’s “Avatar” will be available on Nov. 12 on Disney Plus when the streaming service launches in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands.

“Avatar” will also become available on the service in Australia and New Zealand on Nov. 19. Disney Plus will be the exclusive subscription streaming home of the film, which will be marking the 10th anniversary of its theatrical release on Dec. 18.

“Avatar” was nominated for nine Oscars and won three for visual effects, cinematography and production design. It’s the second-highest worldwide grosser of all time at $2.79 billion, trailing only “Avengers: Endgame.”

The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi and Laz Alonso. Disney has scheduled the release of “Avatar 2” for Dec. 17, 2021, followed by three more “Avatar” films in 2023, 2025 and 2027.

CASTINGS

Highland Film Group has announced that Trace Adkins, Thora Birch, Peter Facinelli, Anne Heche and Paz Vega to Lindsay Gossling’s feature directorial debut “13 Minutes.”

Gossling will also produce under her production shingle Involving Pictures alongside Travis Farncombe and Karen Harnisch. Cassian Elwes and Jere Hausfater for Elevated Films will executive produce, in association with ImpactWX.

Highland Film Group is handling international sales beginning at the American Film Market, which opens in Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 6. Elevated Films is handling the U.S. sale in collaboration with Highland Film Group.

The drama is set in a small American town, where residents wind up having only 13 minutes to seek shelter before the largest tornado on record ravages the town. Principal photography will start on Nov. 11 in Tornado Alley in the Midwestern U.S.

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Double Dutch International CEO Jason Moring has announced that Jamie Bell and Ruby Rose are attached to voice-star in the animated feature “Cranston Academy: Monster Zone.”

Currently in post-production, the movie is written by Carl Bunker and Bob Barlen. It is an Anima production with Prime Focus in association with Fifth Dimension Films, directed by Leopoldo Aguilar and produced by Fernando De Fuentes, José C. García de Letona and Greg Gavanski.

The story centers on two rival geniuses attending a secret school for child prodigies. They must put their rivalry aside and help a half-moth, half-man professor overcome the creatures of the 5th dimension and save the school.

Bell is represented by Artists Independent Management, UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Rose by art2perform, UTA and Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum, Matlof and Fishman.

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