Cameron's Avatar postponed to December 2009

The release of Avatar, the 3-D feature from Canadian-born director James Cameron that has so far been 12 years in the making, has been postponed again.

The film, a love story between a female alien and a human-alien hybrid set against the backdrop of racial discord, is now scheduled for release in December 2009.

Fox, the studio backing the project,announced the delay Tuesday with a list of other releases for 2009.

Cameron's last feature film, the multiple Oscar-winner Titanic, was released in 1997.

Live-action principal photography for Avatar is almost completed in New Zealandwith special effects undertaken by Peter Jackson's visual effects house Weta Digital.

Cameron has said he believes 3-D will grow in popularity with the new digital projection methods.

It is believed that Cameron's movie may have been postponed an additional eight months to give more cinemas time to install digital systems.

The Hollywood Reporter estimates 4,000 3-D-ready screens will be in place in the United Statesby May 2009.

Ice Age 3, the third instalment of the popular animated movie and Paramount's Monsters vs. Aliens will also be released in 3-D in 2009.

Other Fox films to be released in 2009 include Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian, starring Ben Stiller, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.