3D Movies

The Hobbit films will be 3D

Peter Jackson on location filming The Hobbit in 3D

The Hobbit, the book by by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be made into two 3D films, directed by Peter Jackson.

The first part will be titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and will be released on December 14, 2012, and the second part titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again will be released on December 13, 2013.

It’s not that surprising that The Hobbit will be directed by Peter Jackson. Jackson, who directed the very successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, was the logical choice for the new series, but Guillermo Del Toro was also considering making the films for a time.

Filming is underway in New Zealand – where the Lord of the Rings films were also shot.

‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is now shooting in 3D

The latest Spider-Man movie is now in production! It’s being produced by Columbia Pictures, with a release date of July 3, 2012. It’s directed by Marc Webb, who has made films such as 500 Days of Summer.

Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker / Spider-Man, and Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy. The movie has such stars as Martin Sheen, Denis Leary and Sally Field.

The Matrix Sequels to be 3D – is it true?

The rumours are that Keanu Reeves mentioned that the Wachowski brothers may be working on writing the sequels to the Matrix films. They are apparently to be in 3D. So far, this news only seems to a rumour, but it’s a pretty cool one! I’ll post more information when it becomes available.

Avatar on Blu-ray 3D this December

Avatar is going to be available on Blu-ray 3D with the purchase of a Panasonic 3D TV beginning December 1st this year.  This is a special promotion for the time being and it’s not known when Avatar will be available on 3D Blu-ray without the purchase of a Panasonic TV. This first 3D release will not contain any bonus features and will be the same cut seen in theaters.

History of 3D – Movies

3D movies were first thought about as far back as the late 1890s.

This was when William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3D movie process in the UK. His method was to project two films side by side, and the viewer used a Stereoscope to achieve a 3D effect. It was very cumbersome, and the movie was not a true 3D film, shot in 3D.

In 1900, Frederick Eugene Ives, a US inventor, was working with stereo moving images. In 1903 he patented the the “Parallax Stereogram” and by 1923 he was making short 3D films called “Plastigrams.”

-to be continued-

See also History of 3D: Static Images – The Stereoscope and Beyond

Saw 3D is coming!

The final chapter in the SAW movie franchise is coming to theaters soon. SAW VII in 3D is due to be released October 29th, 2010 – just in time for Halloween!

This is the seventh and last of the SAW movies that is planned. An eight part has been shelved, and the story-line woven into this last installment. The film has been shot in 3D from the start, using the SI-3D digital camera system. The sets were planned with 3D in mind, to take advantage of the effect.

This is the most expensive SAW film yet, with an estimated budget of $17 million USD.

Frankenweenie remake to be 3D

Frankenweenie title frame

Tim Burton’s early animated short film Frankenweenie, which he made for Disney in 1984, is up for a feature-length remake in 3D. The film will feature the voice acting of Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short. It will be stop-motion animation and filmed in 2D, then converted into 3D (as far as we know at this early stage). The film is due to be released in March 2012.

Frankenweenie poster (original)

Frankenweenie is about a young boy named Victor and his dog Sparky, which Victor makes the star of his home-made monster movies. When Sparky is hit by a car, Victor proceeds to bring him back to life as a Frankenstein-like monster, who then terrorizes the town.

Frankenweenie drawing

Piranha 3D is a success! Piranha 3D part 2 announced!

Yes, it’s true..it won’t be safe to go into the water for a long time yet! A sequel to Piranha 3D has been officially announced by Dimension Films.

Piranha 3D has done well enough in its initial run ($10 million USD in its opening weekend) to justify a sequel being made. With a relatively low budget, this film is well on its way to being profitable, so look for Piranha 3D part 2…coming soon!

Piranha-3D-Poster

Hansel & Gretel 3D Movie

This sounds exciting! A new 3D version of the classic fairy-tale Hansel & Gretel (The Grimm Brothers’ story about a woodcutter who lives in a house in the forest with his two daughetrs Hansel & Gretel and their evil stepmother. The children run away from home and find a magic cottage made out of candy and inhabited by a wicked witch) gets the big screen 3D treatment…coming soon! The film will include creatures from Teutonic (Germanic) mythology!

This is getting my imagination running! 

Another really interesting fact about this film is that is has the involvement of the lead animated character designer from Avatar, Joseph C. Pepe!

The film is being produced by Michael Bay’s The Institute, and producers Scott Gardenhour and Kira Madallo Sesay for Kalliope Films. Principle photography for the live action sequences is scheduled to start in the Spring of 2011.

So, this film is a ways off yet, but I’m looking forward to it!

More details will be posted here as they become available.

-David

DIRECTV adds new 3D channels

DIRECTV is now offering new 3D content through their service, with 3 new 3D channels, bringing their selection up to 4 channels of 3D content! This looks to be a major step forward for 3D TV and is sure to drive the sales of new 3D TVs and subscriptions to the DIRECTV service.

The new channels will include:

• DIRECTV Cinema™ content – new movies, documentaries and original programming.

• DIRECTV on DEMAND – a large selection of 3D content on demand.

• n3D™ powered by Panasonic - The launch of this channel will have shows such as “African Adventure: Safari in the Okavango”, “Guitar Center Sessions with Peter Gabriel”, and “Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia.”

• ESPN 3D – 85 live sporting events are scheduled for the first year of this channel.

So, an exciting line up of shows and perhaps one more reason to get a 3D TV. But, you’ll also need an HD or HD DVR receiver and HD Access.

http://www.directv.com