Twentieth Century Fox is going social to promote its upcoming film, AVATAR, by partnering with TypePad owner Six Apart, to launch branded blogs and micro-blogs. AVATAR fans can get branded themes for their blogs, as well as trailers, behind-the-scenes clips, and news updates about the film, which launches in about a month. For Fox, the appeal is being able to create a community around its film—complete with engagement analytics supplied by Six Apart—without having to spend the money to build out one on its own. Six Apart worked with Universal Pictures on a similar campaign for 2007’s Knocked Up.

Six Apart CEO Chris Aldren wouldn’t comment on the financial terms, only saying, “Fox didn’t take a stake in TypePad; Six Apart’s revenue opportunity is in helping them build buzz—and generate ticket sales—for their movie.” TypePad recently launched a free micro-version of its service; free bloggers get access to the AVATAR-branded blog templates and media assets, too, but premium users have more customization built in. Some of the new functionality in TypePad’s platform stems from the company’s acquisition of micro-blogging service Pownce, last December.

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