Disney’s plan to remaster Beauty and the Beast for a 3D theatrical re-release next year has been pushed back indefinitely. And the main reason cited was that they didn’t want to jump on the 3D home release market with converted older releases just yet.
People need to buy more 3D TVs before they invest in converting the film for theaters and eventually for DVD release.
The Burbank studio remains keen on re-releasing extra-dimensional versions of its animated classics. But the delay with “Beauty” — to 2012 or later — is simply the Burbank studio’s acknowledgment that it needs to give consumers more time to buy into the home-3D transition.
After all, converting pics to 3D costs $15 million or so per movie and theatrical prospects are limited for any re-release. So the campaign is really all about the eventual release of “Toy Story 3D,” “Beauty and the Beast 3D” and other converted animated features on Blu-ray disc.
So they are holding off on converting it to 3D until they see if the 3D Tv boom actually happens.
Sure, its no big deal to get these mega cinema chains to dish out the cash and ask a bit more for a ticket, but its an entirely different market to start putting out movies in 3D that will only work on 3D TVs!
The availability and eventual lower priced 3D TVs will set the stage for new technology, and while the naysayers are still griping about 3D like its a plague, its just another step in the evolutionary chain of home theater technology, and just like other failed technologies the proof is in the pudding. And by pudding, I mean wallets.
They wont make 3D the standard until they can show the standard can apply to everyone.
I remember back in the day when people were complaining that they were using computers to make CGI characters instead of animatronics. Now we scoff when a giant fake dino head comes on screen and patrons groan over the poor special effects. Now that CGI has elevated to such perfection there is no excuse for it.
Same will happen with 3D. They are constantly improving the technology, and while some don’t like it eventually there will be 3D without glasses and people will wonder why we bothered with these archaic 2d screens.
Its in our nature. People fear change.
But for those of you who were looking forward to a re-release of Beauty and the Beast, they are Lucasing the special edition in boring old 2D BluRay this October and saving the 3D version for a later release.
