The release of a remastered The Abyss looks set to have jumped a step closer, as James Cameron prepares for a very special screening of the film.
It shouldn’t be, but there’s something of a feeling that 1989’s The Abyss is the lost James Cameron film. Along with True Lies, it’s one movie – even including Piranha II – that still doesn’t have a Blu-ray release. And while you can find True Lies on Disney+ of all places, you can search high and low, and you’re not going to be watching The Abyss on any streaming service.
It’s popped up on one or two before, but it’s been a good year or two now since it was revealed that a full 4K remaster had been undertaken of the film. In fact, there’s been one done of True Lies as well, and the plan is for both films – along with Titanic – to get a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release this year. The official announcement hasn’t come in, but a fresh sign of light has nonetheless appeared: an actual screening of what appears to be the remastered The Abyss. What’s more, James Cameron is taking a break from making every Avatar film to the Beyond Fest, that’s taking place in Los Angeles over the coming weeks.
The event is taking place on September 27 at the Regency Village Theatre in LA, and it’s the extended special edition of the film that’s going to be screening. The cut runs for 171 minutes, and whilst it’s not been confirmed that it’s the remaster we’re seeing, it doesn’t seem like a massive leap of faith in this case to assume it is. We know the work on the film has been done, and this is – to our knowledge – the first screening of the film that Cameron has attended himself in absolutely eons.
The film is being projected from DCP rather than the original 35mm too, so some sort of digital work’s been done. It might just be that this is it: one of the most eagerly-awaited remasters of a relatively modern movie. Presumably, we’ll learn a lot more once Cameron has wrapped up his Q&A. And hopefully that 4K disc announcement is imminent…
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