Fox is doing some big reshuffling of their 2009 schedule, moving James Cameron’s superduper expensive Avatar from May to December to give the filmmaker and his FX pals at Weta more time in post and to work out the details of the groundbreaking new 3D techniques, as well as giving time for more theaters to install 3D systems. Filling that hole will be Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian (…), which will be the first movie ever shot in the titular institution.
While Avatar will finish principal photography soon, it’s going to take two solid years of post work to get the movie done. Fox vice chair Hutch Parker says, "Making this change more than two years out allows Weta to achieve this unparalleled cinematic feat with the most efficient completion of the digital effects." IE, ‘This fucker is costing a zillion dollars, so let’s not screw it up by rushing things.’
Meanwhile, Night at the Museum 2 is about to begin casting. According to Variety Reese Witherspoon is being sought to play Amelia Earhart. Which is ironic because I’d like to see Witherspoon disappear these days.