Avatar hand for US-China 3D blockbuster

An Avatar team member has come aboard a US-China co-production of a 3D blockbuster, to help create its dazzling undersea world.

Anthony Arendt, the virtual camera operator of James Cameron's 3D opus, will join the $100 million film, Empires of the Deep, as stereography consultant.

The 3D specialist will work with Chinese cinematographer Rao Xiaobing.

Set in ancient Greece, the film is about a young man's self-discovery while searching for his father. His adventures include encounters with mermaids, pirates and monsters in an alien world.

The film will use the 15 different stages at the China Film Group's Beijing Film Studio Complex in suburban Huairou, besides being shot at several beach town locations in Southeast China's Fujian province.

Featuring more than 1,000 CGI (computer-generated imagery) shots, the film will also have more than 100 CGI sets and 20 CGI characters, including huge fish and monsters.

The film will be shot in 3-D, not just translated into the third dimension during post-production, promises director Michael French.

When asked how he planned to match, or even exceed, the commercial success of Avatar, French said:

"We won't think about that when making this film.

"What we'll do is to provide a great adventure The movies are not for comparison. Songs are not written to be compared; people are not born to be compared. For us, this is a very interesting story made by an incredible cast and crew."

Olga Kurylenko, the girl in 007: Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond movie, plays the mermaid Queen. Steve Polites, star of The Murder Game, acts as Atlas the protagonist. Mainland actress Shi Yanfei plays a mermaid named Aka.

The film is set to be released in the summer of 2011.