Could Inception be getting a 3D retrofit? And could Warner Bros be pushing Christopher Nolan to make Batman 3 in 3D?
Christopher Nolan, right now, is one of the few mainstream directors who has the power to do close to what he wants. Think about it: could any other director on the planet, save for perhaps James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, persuade Warner Bros to stump up $200m for a non-franchise, risky sci-fi movie such as Inception? Probably not.
At the time of the film’s release, Nolan was asked about whether he’d been tempted to make the film in 3D, and refreshingly, he seemed a bit non-plussed by it all.
In fact, he said at the UK press conference for Inception – which you can read a report of here – that “3D is something we’re looking at, but I see at the moment significant technical limitations to the presentation format, mostly with the dimness of the image and the fact that you have to wear the glasses. The post-conversion process can be done very effectively, actually - we did tests for this film, but decided we didn’t have enough time to get it to the standard that we wanted.”
Furthermore, he told Contact Music earlier in the summer that "Until we get rid of the glasses, or until we really massively improve the process, I'm a little wary of it … But we'll be looking at it, and if that's what audiences are demanding from blockbusters - and we're making blockbusters - then it's something we'll address."
The time to address it? It may well have come.
For it’s being reported that Warner Bros is exerting heavy pressure on Christopher Nolan to shoot the next Batman film in 3D. And having held the studio off when it tried to push him to convert Inception to 3D earlier this year, this may be a battle too many for Nolan.
HollywoodInHiDef is now suggesting – and this has been denied by Warner Bros – that Inception is being prepared for a 3D retrofit, so that it can be screened on HBO’s upcoming 3D on-demand channel in the States.
And worryingly, the article also notes that “prevailing opinions at Warner are that Nolan will not enjoy the luxury of taking a pass on 3D for the new Batman movie, which will surely be set up for 3D from the beginning.”
This falls into line with suggestions around the summer that Warner Bros was keen to explore 3D for the next Batman film, having seen the likes of Clash Of The Titans – in spite of its crappy 3D job – have its box office boosted by the premium that can be charged.
Christopher Nolan, it should be noted, has said nothing on this, nor, from what we can tell, has Warner Bros. We’d be fascinated to see, however, iif it can and will force Nolan to embrace 3D for Batman (they wouldn’t call it Batman 3D, would they?), and whether Nolan would be willing to give it a try.
Our view? The Dark Knight, last time we checked, was quite brilliant in 2D. And we didn’t have to wear silly glasses to find that out. If you're really going to try and give the film some spectacle, shoot some more scenes with IMAX cameras again, as with The Dark Knight.
Now that really made a genuine difference.
See Also: