'Avatar' most expensive movie ever made

UPDATED: Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant has informed DS that Time has corrected inaccuracies in their original article to state that Avatar's budget is instead "in excess of $200 million".

James Cameron's Avatar is the most expensive movie ever made, according to Time.

The science-fiction blockbuster, filmed in 3-D with motion capture technology, reportedly carries a production budget of more than $300 million.

Cameron, whose last film Titanic broke budget records in Hollywood, revealed that "every film I'm planning to do will be in 3-D".

Making a movie in 3-D reportedly adds 15% to a film's production cost, but Cameron has insisted that the extra investment is worthwhile. "It is so close to a real experience that it actually triggers memory creation in a way that 2-D viewing doesn't," he said.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End ($300 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($258 million) were previously the most expensive movies ever made.

Avatar stars Sam Worthington as a paraplegic war veteran who is taken to the distant planet Pandora. It is released in cinemas on December 18.