By: Martin Rand, III
Date: October 6, 2011
When Disney re-released "The Lion King" in theaters last month, no one (not even Disney) expected it to sell as well has it has. Thrown in the fact that it was being released solely as a 3-D picture, and Disney would've never thought TLK would be the number one movie for two consecutive weeks. With such success from a 17-year-old movie in 3-D, people must love the effect 3-D has on a movie, right? Wrong!
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| "The Lion King" came back in a big way with 3-D, but is it enough to save the struggling industry? |
In fact, when it comes to 3-D, it's the exact opposite. According to usatoday.com, people aren't falling in love with 3-D as much as the entertainment industry would've liked. The movie, phone, video game and t.v. industries have seen an influx of 3-D with little profit to go along with the high cost of production.
There are plenty of reasons why 3-D isn't as big of hit as one would think. When it comes to t.v., there just aren't enough channels broadcasting 3-D picture to justify buying a t.v. with 3-D capabilities. For video games and phones, 3-D can only been seen using certain features or holding the device the proper way. The movie drought is because people don't want to spend $3-$5 extra for a ticket.
However, even if people got over the previously stated problems, 3-D still wouldn't become a mega-hit among consumers. The disconnect between consumers and 3-D can be summed-up with one easy explanation: 3-D doesn't enhance the quality of any device using it. I know the industry wants people to feel immersed in the product but 3-D doesn't achieve this.
I have seen what 3-D can do and I didn't feel like I witnessing anything groundbreaking. I wouldn't waste $3 or hundreds of dollars on this technology because it's not as great as advertisers make it out to be.
Of course, a movie like TLK is going to sell at the theaters 17 years later. However, it wasn't because of the addition of 3-D. Anyone who saw TLK recently, saw it because they got the nostalgia feeling of seeing it as a child, they have kids now who wanted to see it or simply because it's a great movie. The 3-D vision has nothing to do with it.
Even so, 3-D isn't going anywhere no time soon. There are more original 3-D movies and remakes of classics, like Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and James Cameron's "Titanic," scheduled for release next year. While the remakes will sell, the originals will no doubt flop. Until a true immersion experience of 3-D is created the masses aren't going to buy into it.
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