Red faced Ikran Clan Leader speculation

I think we may have one new piece of information in regards to the character played by Alicia Vela-Bailey in Avatar. If you check out this link that is about the costumes in the current Toruk Cirque du Soleil production http://tyrannyofstyle.com/costume-design-cirquedusoleil-toruk about 3/4ths the way down you'll find this paragraph about the Kekunan Clan.

"The Kekunan are a Na’vi clan that live near the ocean. They fly the banshee, bird like animals, and lead the main characters to find the Toruk. Their costume is made from the dried leaves of the war bonnet plant. They are embellished primarily in red accents, which are made of shells and different objects found in the water."

Sounds a lot like Alicia's Ikran leader character. The Cirque show I believe is 3,000 years before the movie, so while the description of the Kekunan Clan doesn't fit AVBs character to a T, there's some similarities that can't be dismissed. Na'vi Clan by the sea, check. Fly the banshee, check. Costume is made from dried leaves of the war bonnet plant, Id say no, it appears to be beads and leather, but more on that in a second. Primarily red accents made of shells and different object found in the water, well she clearly is wearing red, that awesome tooth on her head garb could be from the sea, but we don't know, so this is a partial check. Now back to her costume not being made of war bonnet leaves, the article also says, 

"The costumes of the Omaticaya clan took inspiration from the film, but because these events occur thousands of years before, they are not quite as sophisticated. Instead of animal skins, we see them in woven garments. They are also far more colorful, a necessary element due to the scale of the live performance venues."

Well that could explain why she doesn't wear any war bonnet clothing pieces, they've advanced past that stage of clothing through the years. Also when Avatar was made there's a good possibility the Kekunans back story hadn't been fleshed out yet, if at all. With upcoming novels, comics, the Cirque Toruk show, and 3 movies I'm sure James Cameron and crew have really fleshed out back stories on things we've already seen. We also can't discount the face the red faced Ikran Clan Leader really stood out in the movie even if her screen time was short.

So while there is no guarantee she is the leader of the Kekunan tribe I'd say it's a real possibility. Also with them exploring more of the oceans of Pandora in Avatar 2 as has been mentioned I bet we are going to see more of the red faced Ikran Clan leader. 

Preproduction art for the Ikran Clan for Avatar. No mention of a clan name.

Kekunan Clan designs for Toruk: The First Flight

How the Kekunan Clan appears in Cirque du Soleils Toruk: The First Flight 

How the red faced Ikran Clan Leader appeared in Avatar

Will Star Wars The Force Awakens dethrone Avatar?

It's a question I've seen posed more and more lately. Will the hype train that is Star Wars The Force Awakens dethrone Avatar from its 5 year perch at #1 in all time box office gross?

The answer is no. 

Now don't get me wrong I am a big Star Wars fan and have been since I was a young child. As an adult no movie has moved me like Avatar did and it is beyond a shadow of a doubt my favorite movie. My reasoning for why The Force Awakens won't become number 1 however is based solely on the math, and the lack of world wide support.

I think the best comparison I can make from another movie would be Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace. It came out in 1999 after a long Star Wars movie layoff of 16 years and was hyped and marketed extremely well. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing products promoting the movie and every I knew was excited to see it. Just like what is happening with The Force Awakens. Episode 1 did fantastic at the box office making just over 1 billion dollars. However 46% of that was domestic sales and 54% was world wide. To beat Avatar right now you're going to need a higher foreign percentage of total sales. I feel you need the whole world to go see and keep seeing the movie. The world doesn't seem to be as invested into Star Wars as we do here in the USA. Let's look at the next Star Wars, Episode II was released in 2002 and made 649 million total with 48% domestic and 52% world wide. Only 10 years ago Episode III released and it made 848 million with 45% being domestic and 55% world wide. 

So the prequel trilogy Star Wars movies averaged a 46% domestic and 54% world wide gross. Avatars totals were a staggering 2.8 billion, but the key is only 27% of that was domestic and a whopping 73% was world wide. Titanic was similar with a 2.2 billion gross, of which 30% was domestic and 70% was world wide. 

My prediction is Star Wars The Force Awakens will finish #2 all time in domestic sales and #4 overall in combined gross. I am predicting 680 million domestically, which would edge out Titanic (659 million) but fall short of Avatars 760 million. The overall total being just under 1.5 billion, leaving it behind Jurassic World, and safely behind Titanic, and Avatar.

So don't fret my Avatar friends, I think we are safe at the top until Avatar 2 is released. You all have my permission to go and see The Force Awakens, just don't go too many times. ;)

-Wameyn

Remembering James Horner

Since I learned of his passing I haven't been able to stop thinking about James Horner and all the amazing work he did, specifically on Avatar. I've always loved the soundtrack but now when I listen it's speaks to me even deeper than before. It's an odd array of feelings when someone passes away whom you've never physically met yet they've touched your life. I am thankful for all the amazing music James left us, what better way to carry on than through that? 

I have been reading some great things about him and wanted to share some of them with everyone.

James Horner passed away today in a plane crash

It's with the heaviest of hearts that I report this news. All the facts are not in but so far what seems to be known is James was piloting his personal plane, an S312 Tucano, when it crashed 60 miles North of Santa Barbara California. His long time assistant Sylvia Patrycja confirmed that it was in fact Mr. Horner who was piloting the aircraft. The cause of the crash is unknown at this time.

My heart and my prayers go out to his wife Sarah, and the two daughters he leaves behind. He leaves behind so much amazing music that we will be able to enjoy for many years to come.

Thank you Mr. Horner for the amazing soundtrack you created for Avatar. Something I'll never forget is listening to it this past February while my baby was born. I even took a screen shot so I would never forget the exact time she came into this world.

Avatar Stuntman Ernie Reyes Jr needs a kidney

http://www.gofundme.com/erjrofficial

Ernie and I 2/21/14

As the title of the blog states, Ernie Reyes Jr needs a kidney. His sister started a Gofundme campaign to help Ernie with his growing medical costs. Incase you aren't familiar with Ernie here is an article about him, shared from http://turtleevent.com/guest-speakers/ernie-reyes-jr/ He is relevant in this blog because he did stunts for Avatar, and also I got a chance to meet Ernie last year in Dallas Texas. He truly was one of the nicest people I've ever been around. He left a lasting impact on my life.

Ernie Reyes, Jr. (born January 15, 1972)  is a martial artist and actor known for his roles in the movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Surf Ninjas, and The Rundown. He has worked in Hollywood for over 25 years for major studios such as Disney, New Line Cinema, Universal, and Paramount.

Reyes, Jr. played a prince in the 1985 production, Red Sonja. In that movie, he shared the screen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen. During this time, he also had his own television series Sidekicks, a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special, The Last Electric Knight, alongside Gil Gerard presented by Michael Eisner. He also appeared in an episode of the hit television series MacGyver in 1988. Reyes had starring roles in Surf Ninjas and in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film The Secret of the Ooze as Keno, the pizza delivery boy. He also served as the martial arts stunt double for Donatello in the first Ninja Turtles film. He later appeared in movies such as Rush Hour 2 playing Zing and in The Rundown alongside WWE wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Reyes guest starred in the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues alongside David Carradine.

In 2006, Ernie Reyes Jr. hosted the MTV martial arts reality show Final Fu.

Ernie Reyes Jr. has a professional fight record of 3–0 in Strikeforce which is now one of largest Mixed martial arts organization on the planet but started out as a Muay Thai and kickboxing organization. Ernie fought Anthony Elkaim the WKA ISKA Champion. Reyes knocked out the champion in the 3rd round. His next two fights would be won by decision, including a unanimous decision over Veasna Thach which aired on ESPN. Ernie Reyes Jr.’s fight against the champion Anthony Elkaim also aired on ESPN.

More recently Ernie Reyes Jr. has done motion capture stunts for blockbuster movies such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. Currently he stars in the mixed martial arts movie The Red Canvas co-starring Ving Rhames and UFC lightweight number one contender Gray Maynard.

If you are compelled to help Ernie please visit the link below to donate. You can also leave him a message to let him know you are praying for him or send him well wishes to help keep his spirits up.

http://www.gofundme.com/erjrofficial

Explore Pandora with Cirque du soleil

Cirque du soleil has put up a game of sorts for us Avatar fans. It's a side scroller that you go through and find different artifacts and discover some "new" Na'vi clans. If you find enough items you can enroll for free for a trip for you and you friends to the first showing of Toruk: The First Flight. To play the game just click the link below. You do have to be a Cirque Club member but that's free and a quick sign up, it also enables you to see and purchase tickets so signing up is a must.

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/toruk/pandora?cid=em:trk_multi_2015:toruk-online-experience-2015:cirque-club:ac082:tks:cds&adsrc=cirque-club&adcnt=ac082&RMID=41108&RRID=a2fa985d-b55e-4795-ac23-9101bf73b791

The game is totally worth checking out if you are an avid Avatar fan. The game has a gorgeous background of Pandora and what excited me even more than a chance for a free tickets was the "new" clans I mentioned. Of course one the clans is the Omaticaya, need I say more about them? They also touch on the Tipani clan, which was in Ubisofts Avatar The Game, so I had at least heard of them, but I was excited to learn more about them. The three brand new clans were the Anurai, Kekunan, and Tawkami. I'll post below the descriptions of each as shown in the game. I found it very cool they included a symbol for each clan. As we have been told the Na'vi have no written language but do sometimes carve things, similar to hieroglyphics. These definitely appear to be of that nature.

I wonder if we will see any of these clans in the future sequels? My guys tells me yes, and that's because they used the Tipani clan that has us until now only been from the previously mentioned game. Sounds like JC is treating all Avatar things officially released as cannon, so I expect the story the upcoming Cirque du soleil show presents will also be in line with the movies albeit many years ahead of when they take place.

Don't forget, sign up for Curque Soleil, play the game, and get signed up for a chance for those free tickets!

*All images posted in today's blog are property of Cirque du soleil.

Toruk: The First Flight

Hey everyone, this is the first post of many in my Avatar blog. Feel free to leave suggestions of what you'd like to see in future blogs or just comment with your thoughts good or bad.

On to the good stuff, incase you've been living under a rock lately and haven't been keeping up on your Avatar news, it was announced the dates and times for the Avatar inspired Cirque du soleil show named Toruk:The First Flight. 

You can see all the dates and purchase tickets at the following link.

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/toruk/tour-dates

I'll admit when I first heard about the pairing of an Avatar based show I assumed it would be in Las Vegas and I'd never have the chance to see it. But it is a traveling show and is going to a wide range of cities across the US and Canada. Where I live I even have a couple of different options, both about two hours away. But I decided to get tickets for the Kansas City show as I'll be able to hang out with another huge Avatar buddy who lives up that way. Let me know what shows you will be attending or what you think of the pairing of Avatar and Cirque du soleil.

-Wameyn