Enthusiastic fans crash 'Avatar' Web site

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The official Web site for "Avatar" crashed for several hours Monday as fans clamored to snap up tickets to previews of James Cameron's science-fiction flick.

The eagerly awaited movie, Cameron's first narrative feature since 1997's "Titanic," is slated for U.S. release Dec. 18.

A preview of "Avatar," featuring 16 minutes of 3D footage, is scheduled to be screened at 104 U.S. Imax theaters Friday.

Fans attempting to grab the 68,000 free tickets available online disabled the Web site for several hours Monday, The Hollywood Reporter said.

"Due to the overwhelming response for tickets to the 'Avatar' event on Aug. 21, our servers have crashed. We will update you as soon as possible," a message posted on "Avatar's" Twitter site said.

"I think to say that there is already a lot of interest in the movie is a pretty good understatement. Obviously, it blew out all the servers," the entertainment industry trade newspaper quoted Greg Foster, Imax's chairman and president of filmed entertainment, as saying. "It's a pretty big statement about the curiosity and interest in the whole thing."