James Cameron choses Amsterdam to preview nearly 30 minutes of the movie that could change filmmaking forever

Reports are popping up all over the net about James Cameron previewing the first publicly shown clips from his $300 million epic 3D sci-fi movie Avatar. Rather surprising, however it does show a trend by filmmakers to embrace the global cinema audience.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox’s presentation at the ongoing Cinema Expo in Amsterdam, was met with utter shock and rave reviews, as Avatar cast members Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang, along with producer Jon Landau and Fox chairman Jim Gianopulos, greeted exhibitors, as Cameron himself introduced the the 24 minute clip-set. According to the report, much of the material came from the first third of the film, with glimpses of unfinished portions of later battle scenes involving warring factions clashing over control of the fantasy world Pandora. I wonder if that leaves the window open for Cameron to show more from the latter parts of Avatar at San Diego Comic-Con later this summer, which he indicated to the audience contains virtually nonstop action.

According to AICN, the footage was viewed on the RealD XL Cinema System, a state-of-the-art camera setup, which, along with IMAX Digital 3D camera technology, is expected to dominate the 3D market in coming years, as more and more films are produced in 3D format.

ComingSoon has posted a detailed description of the footage that was shown.

You can also CLICK HERE to visit the Twitter of Unique Cinema Systems, which has posted additional images from the after-party slideshow, which featured production art, like the one above.

Avatar the film, along with the first true 3D game ever, Avatar: The Game, is due to be released on December 18, 2009.