Michael Corvin

Mine didn't show any either until today.

TomOpus

Just checked one theater's listing and 2 screens are 3D and one is 2D.

Mabuse

I skipped the Lion King 3D. I'm against films that were 2D being altered to 3D. I'll be skipping the Phantom Menace too.

But I saw the BatB trailer in 3D in front of Hugo. Boy what a fuck up. The 3D wasn't done poorly, it's amazing how they can create planes of depth where there previously were none, it just that it shouldn't have been done. It betrays the film.

When a 3D "artist" alters the film the decision about how to arrange things in depth can alter a shot SO MUCH. There was a shot in the trailer where a smoke or steam effect that was drawn to be in the forground was arranged to be way out in the audience's lap. Meanwhile Chip, the subject of the shot is pushed further back into depth. Suddently the smoke is the subject of the shot, not the character. It just fucks the film up.

Watch it in 2D.

Obi-Wanma

I checked again, still no 2D at any theaters in my area.

Matthew Chmiel

Remember, Beauty and the Beast has existed in 3D already in two specific venues:

1. 1. The 3D theatrical re-release that was originally planned two-to-three years ago and then scrapped with the exception of a few parts of the world (like Australia).
2. The already exisiting Blu-ray + Blu-ray 3D + DVD + Digital Copy combo pack.

The reviews, if you do a search for them, are glowing. Beauty and the Beast is a personal favorite of my wife's and despite already owning the 3D combo pack, we will be making it to the theater this weekend to catch it.

And yes, 2D showtimes exist for the film. The two theaters I use the most for MoviePass both have 2D showings, but they're only showing the 2D version once or twice a day.

Ash Ketchum

FINDING NEMO would look fantastic in 3-D. I only wish it had been shot that way. It's the one Pixar movie I would prefer in 3-D.

Deftones

Hmmm. I didn't know they were doing 2D showings also. I'll definitely be up for that for Monster's Inc. and Finding Nemo.

TheBang

Do you mean shot composed with 3D in mind? Because it's simple for them to go back and re-render a second camera angle to produce true 3D shots. I'm pretty sure this is what Pixar has been doing (e.g. Toy Story 1/2), rather than some hinky post-conversion. The only downside is that the original shot composition was probably not created with 3D viewing in mind.

Giles

I must say I wasn't all that impressed with the 3D conversion of 'The Lion King' but just having seen the 3D version of 'Beauty and the Beast' on the big screen - wow! from the opening multiplane sequence to the rain and snow, to 'Be Our Guest' - visually it was great.

Hokeyboy

^

The 3D Beauty and the Beast presentation was wonderful. There really was a sense of scale and depth that was surprising, given how Lion King felt so flat and unnecessary.

That opening multiplane shot was something else...

Jon2

Yes, it is done that way.

I don't think being composed for 3D viewing matters in these cases as Pixar's films (and other studios' CGI films) are created and composed in a virtual environment with three dimensions. They are just rendered for 2D presentation, which makes them great for "3D conversion" (unlike live action films that are filmed in 2D) since Pixar films have the third dimension view "built in", as it were.

Goat3001

Agreed. Saw it yesterday. They knocked it out of the park.

Matthew Chmiel

I'll have to agree with all of the comments regarding the use of 3D with Beauty and the Beast. I just came back from a showing (in Giles' favorite sound format: Dolby Surround 7.1) and I was floored. Fantastic use of 3D and the sound mix was phenomenal.

Giles

and on Rave's Xtreme screen over at the Fairfax Corner - it was bliss! I think because the dual Christie projector has nothing been a headache over on Tyson's ETX screen I decided to check out Rave's new screen/auditorium (with Barco projector), and it didn't disappoint.

Supermallet

I remember when Disney used to re-release their movies in the theater with absolutely no alterations. I saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on the big screen when I was young, which was great. If I had kids I'd be taking them to the 2D showings of these.

Michael Corvin

That's my stance but these 3D reviews are tempting.

TheBang

That's not what I mean. Maybe if I said "shot selection" it would make more sense? The rules for composing a shot that will be in 3D are different from a 2D shot. When they originally rendered the Pixar films, they were done with only 2D viewing in mind. They are re-rendering true 3D, but the same shots (i.e. they are not choosing new camera angles or frame or depth composition), originally composed for 2D viewing.

Roybq

Saw "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D this afternoon and even though I've seen it countless times, I thought the presentation was stunning. This really benefited from the multi plane camera work. I'm really looking forward to seeing "Finding Nemo" now. Even though the preview was brief, it really had a lot of depth to it similar to the Imax underwater 3D films. Those were the ones that convinced me that 3D, when done right, can be spectacular. As someone who grew up with Disney rereleasing their classic films in theaters every seven years, it's great to see them bringing older titles back to the big screen.

Giles

I'd love to know if audiences today would go and see the classic Disney films if they continued the rerelease of films - and NOT everything has to be converted to 3D - when I was a kid I remember Disney's rerelease of Pinocchio in the 1970's (don't remember the actual year) but since the advent of home video occured - the VHS market essentially stopped Disney from their rerelease schedule - I think though with digital projection and the elimination of the costly expense of striking up new 35mm prints and the distribution of the reels - maybe Disney would revisit this.

I had recently recorded 'Finding Nemo' from off of Disney Channel HD and the few scenes I watched, this is going to look amazing in 3D - wonder why the IMAX 3D underwater features are so visually engrossing and fun, fish and stuff swimming in front of your face is perfect visual fodder for 3D.

Matthew Chmiel

I was impressed with the brief Finding Nemo 3D teaser. I do agree that Disney should re-release more of their library to theaters. I would take just the 4K restoration over the restoration and 3D conversion. While some of their library has taken full advantage of the 3D conversion (i.e Beauty and the Beast and the first two Toy Story films), I don't think most will.

On the flip side of 3D re-releases, I wasn't impressed with The Phantom Menace 3D trailer. Yesterday was the first time seeing it in 3D and I couldn't see a single thing that stood out. However, that's thoughts for a different thread.

Honestly, I think we will see more re-releases as the months and years progress.

The Lion King 3D pulled in $40 million during its first week. Beauty and the Beast 3D will pull in $25 million once its first week completes today. While both 3D conversions were originally intended for a theatrical re-release, both were originally headed direct-to-video once Disney had a change in management. However, look what happened when Disney used the theatrical release of The Lion King 3D to be an advertisement for their Blu-ray? It grossed nearly $100 million domestically and another $75 million internationally. These releases are mostly pure profit for Disney, especially since Beauty and the Beast 3D has been sitting on a shelf for two years before the eventual Blu-ray 3D came out three months ago.

Michael Corvin

And those numbers will continue to shrink due to over saturation. It's just a matter of how long before that happens. I'd say 1-2 a year is feasible to maintain that money train, but anything over that will kill the cash cow.

Matthew Chmiel

The Lion King is arguably Disney's biggest (non-PIXAR) animated release, pulling in over $300 million domestically in its original theatrical release back in 1994. Adding in the 2002 IMAX and 2011 3D re-releases, the film has grossed nearly a billion worldwide from theatrical grosses alone. There's a reason why the 3D re-release did so well, its because there's a bigger audience for it than other Disney releases.

Beauty and the Beast doesn't have a large audience base (ahem, young males, ahem) that say The Lion King has. There's a reason why The Lion King has grossed nearly a billion dollars off theatrical grosses and Beauty and the Beast has less than half of that. As I argued in the Weekend Box Office thread, I feel Disney would've seen greater results if they held off on the 3D re-release until Super Bowl weekend similar to Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour from 2008. There would've been less competition and it would've played directly to the female quadrants rather than trying to play the angle of a four-day holiday weekend.

Will the numbers shrink? Absolutely not. Will they fluctuate? Yes. I'll bet money right now that Finding Nemo 3D does on par with, if not better, than The Lion King 3D. The Little Mermaid 3D will do similar numbers to Beauty and the Beast 3D. Monsters, Inc. 3D? Somewhere in the middle.

Hokeyboy

Not entirely. Disney consistently re-released their animated classics well into the 90s. Even as late as 1997 they were re-releasing "The Little Mermaid", and that was at the start of the DVD era.