Michael Bay is Selling Transformers 3-D, But Are You Buying?
"We're putting all of our resources into this," Paramount chairman Brad Grey told the New York Times about the 3-D presentation of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. "It's the most spectacular visual experience I have ever seen." But is that promise enough to get you to shell out extra money to see the additional dimension when the Michael Bay-directed threequel arrives in theaters next week?
Following the less-than-successful 3-D showings at the box office for Green Lantern, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (though since Pirates has made almost $1 billion worldwide, talk of it being hurt by 3-D fatigue seems silly), there is some concern that Dark of the Moon could be the next film to disappoint ("disappoint"). So much so that Bay himself is putting on his version of a charm offensive. There was the sit-down with James Cameron (the godfather of the modern third dimension phenomenon), multiple media appearances extolling the virtues of his immersive Dark of the Moon 3-D, and even cold calls. Per the Times, Bay rang up "chief executives of major theater chains to implore them to show Dark of the Moon in a way that burns out projector bulbs more quickly but makes 3-D look brighter and sharper."
All of which is to say that perhaps Jeffrey Katzenberg was right: bad 3-D could be the death of the format, and the only way to keep that from happening is by pushing good 3-D. To paraphrase Mean Girls: Michael Bay is a pusher. (Also: On Wednesdays we wear pink.)
Of course, there is a problem with this -- and that's the Transformers franchise itself. Will audiences want to spend extra money on Dark of the Moon after being burned by Revenge of the Fallen -- especially when even Bay concedes that it was a bad movie? (On Stranger Tides faced similar problems because of a diminished brand, and 3-D has only accounted for 47 percent of its domestic gross thus far.) Is the promise of groundbreaking 3-D technology enough to warrant five extra dollars for the chance to watch giant space robots battle themselves to the death... for a third time since 2007?
These are high-class concerns for Dark of the Moon to have -- no matter what, the film is going to flirt with $900 million or more in worldwide grosses -- but the future of 3-D could depend on its success. In Michael Bay we trust?
· As 3-D Falls From Favor, Director of 'Transformers' Goes on Offensive to Promote It [NYT]
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Comments
Audiences may be tired of 3D but I'm betting they are most certainly not tired of Transformers. Critics may have hated Revenge of the Fallen but audiences loved it. If audiences felt "burned" by Revenge of the Fallen, why was it the second highest grossing movie of 2009 making over 400,000,000 domestically and over 800,000,000 worldwide? And why does it currently hold a 76% approval rating among audiences on Rottentomatoes.com?
Having read the movie novel for Dark of the Moon , there is no way I wont be seeing this film in 3D. The climatic hour long battle in Chicago will be worth the price of admission alone. Revenge of the Fallen gets a bad rep because of the critics like Ebert dissed the hell out of it, but most people enjoyed it, it had alot of repeat business, Dark of the Moon is a better film than Revenge of the Fallen no question. The story, the action and the 3D make Dark of the Moon the summertime blockbuster to see. Im buying along with millions of other Transformers fans. HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went and saw RotF twice even though I thought the story was loosely thrown together from single phrases written on slithers of paper collected randomly in a lightless room. Mainly because I knew even though it sucked, this was the last chance I was going to have to see Transformers presented so realistically on the big screen if it bombed. Luckily they cleaned up in the box office and have been presented a chance for retribution and reconciliation. Good luck to them.
I think Bay really did his homework this time and surrounded himself with the right people. (and rid of some others like Megan Fox) From what I've read from reviewers so far that this is THE movie. I say ROTF twice myself and the story wasn't that great and the movie as a whole failed to meet the expectations after seeing the trailers. I still enjoyed it. I think Bay may have out done himself with this 3D version by actually filming it in 3D like Avatar instead of doing the 3D post filming like all other 3D movies. Thank you James Cameron for letting Bay use your cameramen and staying on Bay to do 3D!!
Hoping for the last 6 months that this movie makes me feel like a giggling school girl! Haha.. I love Transformers and am totally pumped to spend the extra bucks on my first true 3D movie.
Cant wait for this film. It will be one explosive 4th of July weekend for us Transformers fans. 🙂
If anyone wants proof that Hollywood is dying, just look to the people excited for another overdirected, underwritten Michael Bay movie!
Anyhow, what makes a "good" 3-D movie? The only things worth seeing in a 3-D movie are projectiles shooting at your face, and one of the things that makes a movie stupid is a projectile shooting at your face. Leave the 3-D to theme park attractions (like the upcoming Transformers ride at Universal Studios Hollywood) and start focusing on SCRIPTS, people!
YES! 3D! Who cares about a decent story or script or characters! MORONS!
Ah yes, members of haters nation show themselves yet again, my advice to the haters, if you dont see Dark of the Moon in theaters dont go around insulting everyone else who does, I admit Revenge of the Fallen script was all over the place, but blame the writers, and writers strike not Bay. Everyone who HAS actually seen early screenings of TF3 have all said it was good, it had a decent story, script, character development, and the 3D was great. If u haters know so much about how to make a movie then go to hollywood, and change it from within. Otherwise find something better to do than rag on a movie that you havent even seen, go eat some fruit, get some exercise or something. If you actually go see Dark of the Moon I bet you will love it.
In 3D not just yeah.....BUT OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! 4th of July weekend and Transformers Dark of the Moon are a perfect combination. Celebrate Americas birthday with Optimus Prime and the rest of Team BRING IT!!!! aka the autobots, plenty of fireworks to go around.
The theater I bought my tickets sold out fast. So id say someone is buying.
Dark of the Moon looks really good.