REMINDER: Tickets for the “Avatar Day” screenings will be releases at 12:00 PM (PST) on the Avatar website www.avatarmovie.com.

There’s a lot of marketing going into James Cameron’s newest film Avatar, and August 21, 2009 will be the biggest day of marketing so far. Dubbed “Avatar Day”, there’s a slew of Avatar related events happening that day.

First and formeost, while August 21st sees the release of the film’s trailer, select movie and IMAX® will screen extended footage for “Avatar Day”, all of which will be prepared by James Cameron himself. While the list of theatres has not been released yet, the tickets will be available through the official Avatar website www.avatarmovie.com at Noon (PST) on Monday, August 17th.

Also on “Avatar Day”, Ubisoft® unleashes the trailer for their videogame adaptation, the ever so cleverly named James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. Not to be undone, Mattel uses August 21st to reveal the action figures for the film’s Avatar and Na’vi characters.

So, why all the hype for Avatar? Here’s what the studio had to say:

From 20th Century Fox Official Press Release

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

And to keep the Avatar ball rolling, the studio has released their first official image from the movie.

Sam Worthington in James Cameron's Avatar

Personally, I’m just not sure what the hype is all about. I’m hoping that they will do an “Avatar Day” screening here in Orlando at the IMAX® and that I can get tickets, so just I can see what it’s all about. Right now between the one image and the basic story, I’m not all that impressed. But, I guess we’ll see either on August 21st at “Avatar Day” or on December 18th, when Avatar is released in the theatres.