Diminished Expectations

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"DreamWorks' big-budget bet, Monsters vs. Aliens, has faced one hurdle after another -- including a whipping from the blogosphere over its extravagant Superbowl ad in January," The Wrap's Carolyn Guardina reports. "But now comes the worst news yet: Fewer than half of the theaters that were supposed to be ready for digital 3D projection will be ready by the movie's release on March 27.

"DreamWorks announced a year ago that it expected 5,000 theaters to be 3D-ready for a wide 3D opening of Monsters. But the economic recession has further delayed the already-long-delayed conversion of movie theaters to digital projection.
Expectations have been revised downward."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM

comment #1

Ryansi51 says ...

trailer looked pretty cool in 3D

Posted by Ryansi51 at March 11, 2009 4:20 PM

comment #2

BurmaShave says ...

Looks garish and gimmicky, especially in comparison to a 3-D work of art like CORALINE.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 11, 2009 5:45 PM

comment #3

arch451 says ...

It looks completely unoriginal...like it's Monsters Inc. vs. The Incredibles.

Posted by arch451 at March 11, 2009 5:48 PM

comment #4

Dance Commander says ...

The bigger worry is probably over at Fox who has Gods knows how many hundreds of millions invested in Cameron's "Avatar." Which will be fighting this very same battle in just about 8 months.

Posted by Dance Commander at March 11, 2009 6:35 PM

comment #5

hunterd says ...

CORALINE FTW!

Posted by hunterd at March 11, 2009 6:44 PM

comment #6

actionman says ...

avatar is gonna be a bust. i hope i am wrong but that's what i'm smelling

Posted by actionman at March 11, 2009 7:42 PM

comment #7

Gordie Lachance says ...

Yeah, this sounds like a tragedy. They're probably only gonna make 200 million instead of 220.

I might go see this. I caught the trailer before Coraline, (which was garbage but looked cool). The 3D is pretty awesome.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at March 11, 2009 7:51 PM

comment #8

Gordie Lachance says ...

"Avatar is gonna be a bust"

Hmmm last time I heard predictions like that was right before Titanic opened.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at March 11, 2009 7:52 PM

comment #9

MovieBob says ...

Man, but do I wanna be wrong about this. The PREMISE of (thinly-disguised representations-of) The Fly, The Creature from The Black Lagoon, The Blob, Godzilla and The Fifty-Foot Woman as a government-backed superhero team is a pitch that would make me near-SEXUALLY excited... were it not coming from Dreamworks Animation.

Posted by MovieBob at March 11, 2009 8:20 PM

comment #10

hunterd says ...

Wait...Coraline sucked but MvA seems intriguing...okay...

Posted by hunterd at March 11, 2009 8:21 PM

comment #11

BurmaShave says ...

Gordie how was CORALINE garbage? I'm curious, sincerely. My girlfriend didn't really like it either, but she just said it was creepy and not what she was looking for in animation.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 11, 2009 8:32 PM

comment #12

frankbooth says ...

Pants-pooping jokes, and the Golden Gate Bridge being destroyed...again.

Wow.

Posted by frankbooth at March 11, 2009 8:49 PM

comment #13

dogcatcher says ...

Can't they just release it in 3D and non-3D formats?

I bet this film does a crazy amount of box office though. The Super Bowl thing was kind of a fiasco and a total waste of money. But it got a lot of attention afterward and people watched the trailer, which is what they wanted and was pretty decent, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

Posted by dogcatcher at March 11, 2009 10:19 PM

comment #14

Kyle_D says ...

The movie looks awful, and the 3D in the trailer didn't look all that impressive, either. It's hard to judge such things from trailers, but it looks like they're conforming to modern editing trends with a lot of tight frames and rapid cutting, which renders 3D disorienting and gimmicky. Don't get me started on the trailer's obnoxious ball & paddle gag.

The cases where 3D has really looked great (i.e. Coraline, Beowulf, Monster House) have relied more on wide angles with deep focus, and use blocking to direct the audience's eye rather than rapid cutting. In those cases, the 3D really draws you into the frame and creates a more immersive experience. I'll be interested to see how Cameron adapts his style to 3D for Avatar.

Posted by Kyle_D at March 11, 2009 10:38 PM

comment #15

D.Z. says ...

actionman: I have a feeling that Harlan Ellison will feel like Alan Moore did with Watchmen's script after Avatar bombs. Kind of tempted to ask him about it at the "A Boy and His Dog" screening @ the New Beverly tomorrow, too...

Gordie: Unlike Avatar, Titanic actually had a trailer a year in advance. But all we hear from Cameron are rants about the technology. It's probably going to be a poor man's 2001. I'll probably agree with you on Coraline, though, since it looks generic as hell. But since it has Gaiman's name attached to it, it gets a free pass. Same with his Princess Bride/Laputa/Howl's Moving Castle remake a few years back. As for MVA's gross, if DWA spent too much money on 3-d prints, it could actually hurt the final box office, even if it's a good return.

Posted by D.Z. at March 12, 2009 12:04 AM

comment #16

AH says ...

DZ: There are no "3D prints" , this is digital. Either Technicolor or Deluxe will send out DCI files on portable hard drives that can be returned and reformatted for future use w/ seperate content. This is much cheaper for the studios than the traditional 35's.

Posted by AH at March 12, 2009 10:58 AM

comment #17

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Well, good luck getting him to admit he was wrong.

The D.Z. is a strange breed which will resort to lying, cheating, peeing, incoherent political rambling, and random Jennifer Aniston compliments to avoid admitting fault.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at March 12, 2009 11:36 AM

comment #18

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"I'll probably agree with you on Coraline, though, since it looks generic as hell."

Haven't seen it, though, have you? "Generic" is really about the last word I'd use for it...

Don't let that stop you from sharing some of your other "thoughts" on the quality of films based solely on their trailers, though...

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at March 12, 2009 11:43 AM

comment #19

Gordie Lachance says ...

I hated Coraline for starting out with such a great premise and then turning into a by-the-numbers children's quest where our heroine has to overcome 3 contrived random obstacles and collect 3 arbitrary meaningless items to save her parents, and in the process said nothing about childhood or growing up.

I hated it even more for introducing a character who wasn't in the book, because 1) the studio is afraid that boys won't go see a movie about just a girl, and 2) because Coraline needed to be 'saved' by someone else because she's a girl.

At least MVA looks like it might have a few laughs.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at March 12, 2009 1:23 PM

comment #20

Gordie Lachance says ...

As I said though, Coraline looked fantastic, which is why I plan on seeing almost any animated 3-D film from now on.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at March 12, 2009 1:27 PM

comment #21

D.Z. says ...

AH: They also said DV was cheaper for studios until a bunch of chains lost money on the format, because no one wanted to see the same crap in a better-looking format.

Posted by D.Z. at March 12, 2009 3:25 PM

comment #22