Aging Hollywood Movies to get 3D Makeover: Will Audiences Respond?

  • Hollywood is moving to convert its previously-released blockbuster hits into 3D. James Cameron is spending a year and $18 million to convert “Titanic” to 3D; “Star Wars” and “Top Gun” are two others in production.
  • “Like a bunch of aging starlets, some older blockbusters are undergoing major cosmetic enhancement to prepare for their comebacks,” reports Los Angeles Times.
  • Disney recently spent $10 million on the 17-year-old animated feature “The Lion King,” whose surprising box office success during the last few weeks may lead to additional conversions.
  • “For studios, it’s easy to see why spending $10 million or so to render a beloved film in three dimensions holds appeal: There’s a built-in fan base,” suggests the article. “But there are risks too: As the number of 3D films in theaters has ballooned, American audiences have become more selective about which ones they deem worth the premium ticket prices.”
  • Software improvements have made 3D conversions less expensive and, as a result, makes the prospect more difficult for Hollywood to resist.
  • Yet despite its big-name public champions such as Cameron, George Lucas and Tony Scott, there are still those who remain skeptical. The 3D conversion “undercuts the quality of the film and the verisimilitude of the film,” believes Wheeler Winston Dixon, professor of film studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “It’s to re-direct it and destroy it. This is a poor idea artistically and a poor idea financially.”
  • Either way, the movement is underway and we should expect to see more 3D “makeovers” of older films in the near future.