It seems that those of us anxiously awaiting the release of James Cameron’s record-breaking Avatar on Blu-Ray in 3D will have to wait a little longer, with Cameron revealing that the release is scheduled for November.

Anyone looking forward to Avatar in 3D at home is going to have to wait...

TechRadar is reporting that Cameron revealed the news in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. The standard DVD release of Avatar is scheduled for April, while those looking to watch the 3D version in the comfort of their own homes are going to have to sit on their hands for seven months while they wait for the Blu-Ray release.

The news of the delay has been criticised by some, who’ve seen it as an attempt by publishers to reap something of a double harvest, with sales of the film in 2D in April being augmented by a pre-Christmas release in 3D of the film on Blu-Ray. Still, there are plenty of other reasons to have delayed the 3D release of Avatar.

If nothing else, the fact is that there are relatively few 3D-capable displays around at the moment, especially when it comes to the average household. Indeed, in Ireland there are still plenty of people for whom the move to high-definition displays has been a fairly recent one (or one that hasn’t been made yet).

With that in mind, the decision to delay the release of a 3D version of Avatar makes an awful lot of sense for publishers. If the film is released when there are more models of 3D-capable displays available then there’s far more benefit to be had both by manufacturers of 3D displays and the film’s publisher, which is far more likely to see high sales figures with more equipment in the field capabale of… y’know, actually playing the film.