James Cameron works his Avatar magic!

The countdown for the 3-D epic blockbuster Avatar is finally on and James Cameron's fans are already hyperventilating.

Avatar is surely the season's hottest ticket for both movie goers and critics alike. The hype around it grows bigger by the day and it's rather contagious.

The reasons behind the euphoria are fairly simple; Avatar is James Cameron's first movie after his smashing hit Titatic that won him 11 Oscars and made a colossal £1.8 billion worldwide box office.

Will Cameron produce something as big and exciting? Can he please both the critics and his legions of fans? Will it be both cash and kudos for Avatar?

An eye-popping, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping scifi adventure that will take 3D movies to a whole new level and may well be the industry's ultimate weapon against piracy.

Avatar is a $500 million big-screen extravaganza that will play on over 8,000 3D screens worldwide and more than 16,000 2D cinemas across the globe.

It is the most expensive Hollywood blockbuster ever made that is bound to revolutionise cinema after a long ten year in-the-making process combining top digital 3D imagery and live action.

Avatar tells the story of Jack Sully; a paraplegic ex-marine war veteran sent to establish a human settlement on the distant planet of Pandora.

But the blue-skinned, 9ft tall alien N'avi natives make this task rather complicated and Sully must infiltrate in their community transplanting his human DNA into N'Avi "avatars.

However things don't go as planned when Sully falls in love and goes local fighting against human destruction.

Avatar hits theatres worldwide December 18.