'Cirque du Soleil' makes 3D leap to the big screen

MIAMI - Agence France-Presse

Cirque du Soleil. EPA Photo

Oscar-winning director James Cameron, who broke new ground with 3D technology with "Avatar," is bringing that knowhow to Cirque du Soleil, producing a 3D film featuring the high-flying acrobatic troupe.
 
Cameron acted as executive producer and camera operator for "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" -- a movie spectacle which brings the group's breathtaking aerial routines to the big screen for the first time.
 
"This movie was a dream come true," Cameron said of the 91-minute film directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who also was at the helm of the hit "Chronicles of Narnia" films.
 
"Worlds Away" recounts the story of Mia, played by acrobat Erica Linz, who, while searching for a lost love, traverses through various universes -- each of which is one of the fantastical worlds crafted by Cirque du Soleil.
 
Among the troupe's shows re-created in the film are "Believe," "Mystere," "O," and "Viva Elvis." The movie was filmed in part at a studio in New Zealand, which the Canadian-born Cameron now calls home, and is due to open Friday in cinemas across North America.
 
For all of the fantastical celluloid worlds he has created in the past, Cameron says what he really marvels about is the sheer majesty of the human form in action -- particularly the elastic and athletic "Cirque" performers.
 
"Their death-defying acts require such incredible skill and nerve -- we felt it was so important to show the cabling, everything supporting that human ability," he told reporters in Florida ahead of the film's release.
 
Another of Cameron's highly-anticipated movie projects, a sequel to "Avatar," is expected to open in theaters late next year.