Apparently whoever is cutting the trailers for James Cameron’s “Avatar” got word from high up at 20th Century Fox that the first few trailers were too gosh darn serious, what with all the military occupation, political backstabbing, planet razing, and alien genocide-attemptin’ going on. The result: this new trailer, which sells the movie as a kiddie adventure film, ala some shitty Disney kids movie. You can’t really blame them for hedging their bets. The budget for “Avatar” has soared somewhere into the $250-$350 million dollar range (trying to get a fix on it is impossible at this point, with special effects not even finished yet), but word is by the time the P&A costs are added in, “Avatar” is going to cost the studio somewhere in the $500 million dollar range. Say it with me, now: “What recession?”

Help the good guys kill the locals and rape their alien planet on December 18, 2009.