3D for Robin Hood, Jackass, and Star Wars?

Published by Jeff Leins on: December 27th, 2009

Expensive three-dimensional technology seems to be paying off for James Cameron’s Avatar, which topped a competitive Christmas weekend and is wowing audiences worldwide.  This naturally has Hollywood types looking through dollar sign pupils at their upcoming releases and stroking their beards at how to replicate that success.

Though Avatar was shot in 3D from the beginning, an increasing number of executives are seeing the benefit of spending the extra $8 million for at least a post-production conversion to three dimensions.  It’s not just in the premium pricing either.  In a time when theaters are under siege from piracy and the possibility of on-demand, as well as a struggling DVD market, there’s value in luring audiences back to stadium seating and sticky floors.

TheWrap.com’s Sharon Waxman wrote a great article about the 3D mania sweeping the town, naming a few titles that may be getting the new experience.  She says Ridley Scott is pushing hard for 3D in Robin Hood, an already overpriced ($200 million) epic starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Terminator 2 may also be getting a re-release, according to Waxman, which would join Titanic in the continuing discussions to bring more Cameron movies back to theaters.  The Arnold Schwarzenegger sequel has already been used as a test subject for curious suits.

Of course, George Lucas is somewhere considering re-re-re-releasing Star Wars up-converted to 3D, and Steven Spielberg, who was awestruck along with other filmmakers, may be putting Jurassic Park back on screen with eye-popping dinosaurs.  They’ve both been known to revisit their own work before, why not now?

There have been rumors of a third Jackass movie for a while, but MTV and Paramount made it official by sending out a press release confirming Jackass 3D.  “We’re going to take the same 3D technology James Cameron used in Avatar and stick it up Steve O’s butt. We’re taking stupid to a whole new dimension” said star and producer Johnny Knoxville.

The difference is none of these movies were shot in or are planning to shoot using the very same stereoscopic cameras Cameron used in Avatar.  Nor do they seem to grasp what made his movie special.  It wasn’t in 3D so objects could fly at the screen or weapons could virtually skewer an audience, like in the horror remakes, the technology made the otherworldly story an immersive experience unlike any other.

Producer Gavin Polone even tells this to Waxman about the already announced Zombieland 2 in 3D.  “Zombieland makes a lot of sense — it’s an action movie, there’s stuff coming at camera. We’ll write to it.”

When will Hollywood stop using 3D as a money-making gimmick and instead focus on utilizing it to enhance the process of storytelling?