After more delays James Cameron’s first movie since Titanic is finally on the schedule. Fox announced to day that Cameron’s next movie Avatar will start “virtual” photography in April of this year and live-action filming starts in August. But they’re only shooting 31 days of live-action shooting. Apparently they’re planning on a ton of post-production because they expect the movie to be released in 2009. We’ve got a long wait ahead of us.

It sounds like everything is already to go. While we’ve been waiting for this announcement, Cameron has spent years slaving away in research and development on Avatar. The characters are already designed, he says they have animatics working, and they’ve even shot 10 minutes of footage already. But there’s a reason it’s going to take so long. As rumored, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the movie will be shot in Cameron’s exciting, new 3-D format. He’s using that time to push the envelop folks. Time, and lots of money.

Cameron vows to keep the budget under $200 million, but not by much. $190 million is the expected cost. Cameron says that money will enable him to “blow you to the back wall of the theater in a way you haven't seen for a long time.” Sound good? He has more to say. “My goal is to rekindle those amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw '2001: A Space Odyssey,' or the next generation's 'Star Wars.' It took me 10 years to find something hard enough to be interesting.”

Coming from anyone else, I’d assume those quotes to be nothing but PR spin. But coming from Cameron, you can bank on it. If that’s what he’s planning then believe that’s what he’ll deliver. Avatar will be the movie event of the new millennium. Prepare to have your minds blown.