Avatar, a 3-D science fiction movie from Titanic director James Cameron, has been shrouded in secrecy since he began work on it more than 14 years ago.
The movie, starring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldaña, is not set for release until December.
But after a two-minute teaser trailer online yesterday, an extended 15-minute version was being shown at Imax cinemas.
Twentieth Century Fox gave tickets to Avatar Day screenings to fans who applied online. London's Imax cinema in Waterloo is among the venues.
The movie is said to contain pioneering special effects that could change film-making forever.
James Cameron's Avatar looks stunning. A sneak preview of the 3-D sci-fi fantasy was shown at the BFI Imax in Waterloo this morning, ahead of screenings later today in the US and the rest of Europe.
The director of Terminator and Titanic has pulled off yet another all-action visual extravaganza with a touch of saccharine sentiment, and he uses the cutting-edge film technology - which he himself pioneered - to maximum effect.
In the 22nd century, a group of marines arrive on the planet Pandora, a hostile jungle-world populated by saurian lizards and the blue-skinned, faun-like warrior race, the Na'vi.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic war veteran, has his mind transplanted into the body of one of these supple giants by Sigourney Weaver's sarcastic doctor.
Falling for the lithe, light-blue Neytiri (Star Trek's Zoe Saldana), he goes native and finds himself in a bitter conflict between humans and Na'vi. The parallels with the Pocahontas story are hard to miss, especially as the Na'vi use bows and arrows.
But it won't be for its symbolic dimension that most people see Avatar. The depth of vision and definition of the 3-D images are astonishing.
Actors mesh seamlessly with the amazingly detailed, computer-augmented landscapes and creatures. Raptors snap and leap out of the screen. Insects seem to hover before our eyes, shell casings to eject into our laps.
The Na'vi themselves are memorable creations - an idealised version of the noble savage. But broad dramatic and emotional brush-strokes do not necessarily harm box office, as the almost $2billion profits of Titanic proved.
In 2003 I interviewed Cameron about Ghosts of the Abyss, the 3-D documentary he had shot in the wreck of the Titanic. He said then the technology would never take off again as it had in the 1950s: "It's just the coolest toy."
Cameron clearly had not reckoned with the success of The Polar Express, Coraline, and Disney's Bolt. Or maybe he was just keeping his powder dry.
Avatar could become the first grown-up 3-D blockbuster.
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