Just when movie enthusiasts across the globe are eagerly awaiting the release of James Cameron's magnum opus ‘Avatar' on Dec 18, multiplexes across India are gearing up to en-cash on the extraordinary buzz around its release.

Made with a fusion camera developed by Cameron himself, ‘Avatar' is expected to revolutionize the film-watching experience and multiplexes are investing huge sums in upgrading their infrastructure to bring this extravaganza to moviegoers.

While Avatar will be released in 2D as well as 3D formats, theatre owners are particularly expecting a huge demand for the 3D version.

In the past, 3D Hollywood films like ‘Ice Age 3', ‘and ‘Final Destination' have done good business in India.

From the time producers Fox Star Studios screened 20 minutes footage of Cameron's film in August this year; the number of 3D screens in India has increased from around 12 to 40, and 60-70 screens by 18th December.

This covers cities across India including major markets like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad as well as smaller centers like Coimbatore, Amritsar, Kerala, Jaipur and Ahmedabad (which is considered a small market for Hollywood films).

Aditya Shroff, AVP -Distribution, Programming and Corporate Sales for Fame Cinemas reaffirms, "I believe that the 3D version of Avatar is going to be the revolutionary movie for this generation and hence Fame is trying to go as wide as possible with the 3D release. Avatar will do to 3D what Reliance did to mobile phone usage in India.