Original Avatar Movie Script

Started by Swokéyan, April 05, 2010, 11:46:34 AM

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Swokéyan

Kaltxì,
I have found a few funny things in the original movie script of Avatar.
This may have been mentioned before, not sure.
Anyway..
In the original movie script...

Jake Sully was called Josh Sully
Neytiri was called Zuleika
Tsu'tey was called Tsu'te
Norman Spellman was called Norman Cheeseman
The Tree of Souls was called the Well of Souls
Eywa was called Gaia

Thats about... it.
If you want to read it yourself, this is the link: http://sfy.ru/?script=avatar
In this version of the script James Cameron really lets you know at the beginning what he thinks about the current situation of the earth ::)
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Join the real life Na'vi tribe here (And yes, it will be a real tribe in the real world, NOT a role play)

Tsu'roen

What you refer to is not the original movie script of Avatar but the Avatar Scriptment that James Cameron wrote somewhere in the mid nineties of the last century. It is written as a draft and closer to a novel than a script. JC used that to put his thoughts and ideas together and pitch it to the studio. And for sure he used it as the base for the actual Avatar script.
The original Avatar script is the one from 2007 and it has been released by FOX here. But even that differs in some points from what came finally to the screen.

The Avatar Scriptment would have made an extremely long movie as it contains much more background info and goes much more in detail than the movie. Most of the Na'vi name changes came after JC spend some time in New Zeeland and the South Pacific. He was clearly influenced by that experience. Also the language pattern he picked for Na'vi out of the array Frommer presented him fits that scheme.

The human names haven't changed too much and mostly to a more popular version.

But besides the names there are some bigger differences.
In the Scriptment
- Pandora is a planet and not a moon
- Pandora's sun is Alpha Centauri B and not Alpha Centauri A
- there was a news team at Hell's Gate that sent news from Pandora back to Earth
- there was a representative of the Earth government on Pandora that was supposed to watch that the RDA didn't violate the law.
- Gaia (Eywa) was battling the humans from the very beginning and played an active role in the final battle from the start
- there was no Toruk Makto legend as riding a Toruk (dragon) wasn't such an impossible thing and Josh (Jake) as well as Tsu'te (Tsu'tey) were riding one in the battle.
- there was never a falling out between Josh (Jake) and Zuleika (Neytiri)
- Ikran were only captured for the big hunt and then released again
- Josh (Jake) gained the trust of the Na'vi during the hunt and in a rescue mission where he freed several by the RDA Sec-Ops captured Na'vi, among them Zuleika (Neytiri)
- Grace had a Na'vi lover
- the Na'vi tried to save Grace in her human body and only after that failed Grace's spirit was uploaded into Gaia (Eywa) - only after that the Na'vi successfully transferred her into her Avatar body.
...
and this list goes on
"There are many dangers on Pandora, and one of the subtlest is that you may come to love it too much" ~ Dr. Grace Augustine

"You have a strong heart. No fear. But stupid!  Ignorant like a child!" ~ Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite

10x (1x 2D, 3x Real 3D, 6x IMAX 3D)
1x Special Ed. (1x IMAX 3D)

Swokéyan

Yeah.. i dont know everything about it :P just read it through really quick.
Lurkin' the forums
Join the real life Na'vi tribe here (And yes, it will be a real tribe in the real world, NOT a role play)

Kaltxì Palulukan!

Quote from: Swokéyan on April 06, 2010, 08:21:10 AM
Yeah.. i dont know everything about it :P just read it through really quick.

Well, I am deeply impressed to find this discussion, this late in the day. Thanks for bringing this to the fore. I will have to read this "original Avatar movie scriptment" thing and dig even deeper into the mind of JC and the world (planet/moon) of Pandora. The well of souls is very old. I have even found myself mistakenly calling the ToS the Wos. I had no idea that JC did at one point as--er . . . well.
2022 update: Working on the new astrology book. "How to read tarot" books are on Amazon, if you are into that sort of thing.
Okay, so the old podcast is here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/radioavatar It was goofy fun that ended too soon, but we had creative people. I hope we can get a new gang together (interested? PM me, let's make some magic!)
(Very old, outdated) Na'vi FUN activity book is here: But what are you doing? Let me know! :)

Swokéyan

Lurkin' the forums
Join the real life Na'vi tribe here (And yes, it will be a real tribe in the real world, NOT a role play)

Kaltxì Palulukan!

I was listening to the JC interview today on my ipod (JC with F.X. Freeney--probably in January) and he talks a LOT about the movie script, and how he first wrote it, tore it up, rewrote it. I highly recommend it. It is around here somewhere. It's pretty long and dry though.
2022 update: Working on the new astrology book. "How to read tarot" books are on Amazon, if you are into that sort of thing.
Okay, so the old podcast is here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/radioavatar It was goofy fun that ended too soon, but we had creative people. I hope we can get a new gang together (interested? PM me, let's make some magic!)
(Very old, outdated) Na'vi FUN activity book is here: But what are you doing? Let me know! :)

Technowraith

Avatar's original script was called project 880. This version of the script is a lot darker than the theater version we all know.

Among some of the notable changes in Project 880:

-We would have seen the effects of death in avatar form. A driver is scripted to have suffered severe mental consequences after his avatar is while in link.

-We would have seen Max using the slash cutter to assault the Hell's Gate control tower.

-We would see the obvious name changes as mentioned in the first couple of posts of this thread.

-The reason Hometree was destroyed was Quaritch wanted to make sure the other na'vi tribes knew not to mess with humans. There was no unobtanium under Hometree.

-More detailed aspects of na'vi culture including the uniltaron, as well as .the great hunt would have been shown.

There are many more differences. Copies of the Project 880 script do exist on the internet, just google avatar project 880 or some combination thereof. I forgot where i acquired my copy.
See that shadow? It's the last one you're gonna see.

Tsmukan fa kxetse anawm

omängum fra'uti

Quote from: Technowraith on April 07, 2010, 12:19:33 AM
-We would have seen Max using the slash cutter to assault the Hell's Gate control tower.

-More detailed aspects of na'vi culture including the uniltaron, as well as .the great hunt would have been shown.
Those two were actually scripted for Avatar as well and at least the first was also shot.  (Some of the B reels and behind the scenes stuff shows the slashcutter scene being filmed.)  You'll also notice that it's broad daylight when Neytiri is painting up Jake but dark when Eytukan accepts him as Omatikaya.  The time between is where the uniltaron would have been, and makes the whole thing make more sense as being some grand ceremony rather than just being painted up for two lines and a whole-tribe love-in.
Ftxey lu nga tokx ftxey lu nga tirea? Lu oe tìkeftxo.
Listen to my Na'vi Lessons podcast!

Technowraith

Quote from: omängum fra'uti on April 07, 2010, 12:59:43 AM
Those two were actually scripted for Avatar as well and at least the first was also shot.  (Some of the B reels and behind the scenes stuff shows the slashcutter scene being filmed.)  You'll also notice that it's broad daylight when Neytiri is painting up Jake but dark when Eytukan accepts him as Omatikaya.  The time between is where the uniltaron would have been, and makes the whole thing make more sense as being some grand ceremony rather than just being painted up for two lines and a whole-tribe love-in.

I noticed that part with the day/night timing. I figured something happened between that time frame.

It's interesting to see how the story evolved and changed between the project 880 version and the final running version.
See that shadow? It's the last one you're gonna see.

Tsmukan fa kxetse anawm

Swokéyan

I think they should have showed us the uniltaron :P
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Join the real life Na'vi tribe here (And yes, it will be a real tribe in the real world, NOT a role play)