James Cameron's epic film Avatar is returning to theaters for a limited time on August 27. The Hollywood Reporter has new details on the eight and a half minutes of never-before-seen footage in the re-release, along with news that more than 16 minutes of unseen footage will be included in the special edition DVD and Blu-ray that will arrive in November.

The site spoke with Avatar producer Jon Landau who said the new footage will include additional action scenes and, "narrative-deepening" extensions of scenes between the humans and Na'vi of Pandora. Here's an excerpt from the article:

"We tried to look at what people have responded to in the film and give them more of that. There's a whole new scene that takes place in the (Na'vi) school, there's more night bioluminescence, there's new creatures, and there is a new action scene. The scenes don't just feel like added scenes -- they are very organic to the story and embellish it."

The new theatrical re-release will be shown only in 3D theaters. The site reported that the film will be released in 800 theaters nationwide starting on Friday, August 27, with 125 of those venues being IMAX theaters. The film's new cut is said to run 171 minutes.

It was also reported that the film's upcoming special edition DVD and Blu-ray release will contain over 16 minutes of additional footage and, unlike the previous DVD and Blu-ray releases that hit shelves in April, will also include special features. These special edition releases were said to be available in November, although an exact street date and special features details haven't been released at this time. The film's highly-anticipated 3D Blu-ray won't be released until 2011. It was said that James Cameron and Fox Home Entertainment want to allow time for the 3D home entertainment market to grow.

We'll continue to keep you posted with any further details regarding Avatar theatrical re-release and DVD/Blu-ray special edition details as soon as we have more information.