A year ago, James Cameron was everywhere ahead of Avatar: The Way of Water. Then came the Titanic 25th anniversary re-release, followed by Cameron’s name inevitably popping up alongside the growing cultural interest in AI. Avatar 3‘s not due until next year, but don’t you dare think Cameron will be out of sight for that long. Next month, he’s bringing The Abyss: Special Edition to theaters.
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The 4K upgrade to the 1989 film—which just screened at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, CA, with Cameron himself on hand—will hit theaters December 6. The Oscar winner announced the release in a series of social media posts.
“If you haven’t seen the film before, this is the way to experience it,” Cameron said. “And if you have, you’ll be seeing the film I actually set out to make, with some big surprises not seen in the original release version.” He also calls it “my first ocean film,” though as fans well know, it wasn’t his first alien-themed film; it was released three years after Aliens. Its special effects were widely praised at the time and went on to win an Academy Award, and they still look great—not unlike Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which followed just two years after The Abyss.
The Abyss stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn; it’s about an oil platform crew pressed into service alongside a Navy SEAL team when an American submarine sinks near their rig, and, this being Cold War times, they have to get there first as Soviet ships close in and a hurricane looms. As it turns out amid all this chaos—Harris and Mastrantonio are estranged spouses, and Biehn’s character is a hothead, so that adds to the drama—the bottom of the ocean can be a very otherworldly place.
Of course, there’s a snazzy new trailer to mark the occasion:
And a poster, too:
The Abyss: Special Edition hits theaters December 6. So far there’s no official world on when its home release might happen.
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