No, I haven't seen it yet, but the numbers are finally in and in its opening weekend, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D rated number 4 at the Box Office. The film (in its second theatrical release) came in during the lower competition season and, while it no doubt drew a few more people to theaters than normal, I'm afraid it may be a small beginning of what will turn into a larger issue.
The Star Wars 3D re-release is a combination of two growing trends in Hollywood. On one hand, they are converting a film shot in 2D to 3D to enhance special effects and draw more money out of it. On the other, they are relying on an old, familiar franchise to draw audiences. A significant percentage of films being produced are remakes, sequels, prequels, and/or adaptations. With movies being readily available to viewers via television and the Internet, Hollywood studios feel they can no longer take chances on untested ideas to draw audiences into theater seats. Which brings us to the menace, the re-release.
The following movies are being re-released in 3D this year: Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Titanic, and Finding Nemo. That's four releases, half from Disney, in a single year, with more scheduled for coming years. When the Star Wars Special Edition was re-released in the mid-90's, the added scenes and special effects were a fun experience for Star Wars fans, but the release didn't make too many waves in film distribution because it was the only film series being re-released at the time. Lucasfilm had both means and incentive to improve the films for a new release. Not many franchises could say the same. Now, with 3D conversion being both popular and universally viable, they all can do it.
Now you may be asking, 'What's the problem?' After all, these are all great films coming out (prequels not withstanding) and some will probably look very cool in 3D. Here's the issue: Self-Inflicted Competition. As I said before, theatrical releases are under a lot of pressure to draw audiences because audiences can see films so easily from home. As a result, film creativity has become stagnant and predictable. A re-released film will draw audiences from other films in theaters; films that actually took more effort and money to produce and distribute. Hollywood studios are creating more competition for the new films, and the sad part is the competition won't affect their bottom line. They still get money for the re-releases, and since it's not that expensive to convert a film to 3D, they get a very decent return. Basically, audiences are giving money to studios for something they've more or less already seen. It's more incentive to put less effort into original titles, and with a large library of films available for conversion, this problem can only grow.
I have nothing but disdain for the 3D trend, but this new scheme is a whole new blow against industry creativity. And audiences will just eat it up.
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