the start of the end for the 3D novelty?

hi there

it's no secret that i am anti-3D, so yes this is going to be a biased point. you have, as it were, been warned!

the signs are there that these 3D shenanigans are at last coming to an end. and there can surely be no more an impressive or explicit sign of this than the decision to "postpone" the release of the remainder of the Star Wars films in this trivial format.

the intention was to re-release the Star Wars films in Episode sequence over six years, starting with The Phantom Menace in 2012. this was changed so that Episodes II and III would be released within a month or so of each other in 2013. now, going on the official statement, that's not going to happen :

Given the recent development that we are moving forward with a new Star Wars trilogy, we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on Star Wars: Episode VII in order to ensure the best possible experience for our fans. We will post further information about our 3D release plans at a later date.

hmn. projects postponed in the film industry very rarely get heard of again. i am pretty sure that this will be the case here.

The Phantom Menace re-released in 3D managed an impressive $22 million opening weekend, but alas the final figure at the box office was $43 million in total. even allowing for the fact that this film is the least fondly thought of from the series, that does not scream out that the other re-issues would be a huge success.

that they are claiming to be rather placing focus on Star Wars Episode VII is interesting. with the release date for at least Episode II being 2013 all along, surely they would have in fact already done a hell of a lot of work on the conversion? and, with interest in Star Wars being higher than usual right now, wouldn't it have been quite a marketing dream to get the original films back in the cinema and raking in cash?

i suspect that the film studios are starting to accept that the average cinema goer wants little to do with 3D. Avatar was a monumental fluke, with the novelty factor of it ramping up the box office take far more than anything in the film warranted.

well, that's my thinking on it. the sooner Scorsese and Scott can go back to proper film making without messing about with this format the better, i say!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!