December and January just didn't have enough 3D films to warrant a separate article for the winter season, so we decided to roll January in with the rest of the spring releases and get a head start on 2012.
The coming year is looking like it'll have fewer 3D films than 2011, but before you go spouting doom and gloom for the format, think about it this way: All the major summer tent-poles are still 3D, so fewer stereo films may simply mean that more directors and studios are beginning to see 3D as a film-making tool instead of a gimmick or guaranteed cash grab.
2012 is also the year we'll start seeing more and more older films converted and re-released in 3D. It's a trend I'm not entirely sold on, but it worked well for The Lion King, and anything that gets classic films like Titanic and Star Wars back on the big screen is ultimately a good thing—even if it is The Phantom Menace.
There are nine 3D movies scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2012:
January
- 1/13: Beauty and the Beast 3D (Buena Vista) - Disney is back with their second 3D re-release of the past six months, and there's no reason it shouldn't be a treat. Beauty and the Beast has never really had the same widespread appeal of The Lion King, so it's unlikely Disney will score another unexpected $100M grosser with this one, but for loyal fans of the film the ballroom scene alone will make it worth the price of admission.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
- 1/20: Underworld: Awakening (Screen Gems) - Can't say I'm in love with the Underworld series, but it sure beats watching a certain other vampire franchise. Kate Beckinsale brings just enough to the role to make things interesting, and the fact that they shot this with Red Epic cameras means that even if the script ends up being painfully mediocre, the visuals won't be.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
February
- 2/10: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (New Line) - Journey's predecessor became an unexpected hit, partially because people seem to really enjoy Brendan Frasier in the action/adventure genre, but also because folks were curious to see what this "new 3D" was all about. Unfortunately, Journey 2 is lacking both Frasier and the element of surprise, and if theatrical trailers are any indication the franchise appears to be treading water in the story department. Anything can happen, but I think there's a reason New Line dumped this one in February—of course, competition from one of the biggest films of all time doesn't help, even if it was universally derided...
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
- 2/10: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (20th Century Fox) - Whether or not they plan on seeing the film, I think most movie fans are pretty interested to see how this performs. There's only one other franchise with a fan-base as large as Star Wars, but if The Empire Strikes Back is Lucas' Dark Knight then The Phantom Menace is Batman and Robin. Will love for the franchise win out over distaste for the film itself? Only time will tell, but hopefully 3D pod-races and the famous Darth Maul lightsaber battle will lure enough fans to the cinema to warrant 3D conversion for the rest of the series.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
- 2/17: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence (Sony Pictures) - The first Ghost Rider was a critical failure and a marginal box office success. Apparently movies in that category get sequels, so here we are staring down the latest in a long line of Nicolas Cage action flicks. Cage is an entertaining guy, but I can't see this being much better than the original. My biased advice? Save your money and spend it on John Carter in early March.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
March
- 3/09: John Carter (Buena Vista) - I'm excited about John Carter. First you've got Andrew Stanton behind the camera, and even though he's never directed live action before, the two films he's helmed are modern classics. He was a driving creative force at Pixar during one of the best stretches of film-making by any studio, ever, so I've got pretty high hopes. Aside from Stanton, some really talented concept artists worked on John Carter, including Scott Patton who had a big hand in the designs for Avatar (and helped rescue the legendary Stan Winston Studio after Winston's untimely passing in 2008). My only hang up is that the film was shot in 2D and post-converted to stereo—unfortunate, but it worked just fine for Captain America and Thor.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
- 3/28: Pirates! Band of Misfits (Sony Pictures) - Pretty much everything Aardman Animation has done in the past has been fantastic, so there's no reason this shouldn't follow suit. From the footage Sony has shown us in the trailers, it looks like Pirates! will have the quintessential mix of quirkiness, heart, and imagination we've come to expect from an Aardman film.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
- 3/30: Wrath of the Titans (Warner Bros) - Love it or hate it, Clash of the Titans has come to epitomize the term "poorly executed 3D conversion." People that disliked the movie didn't dislike it because it was a mindless action flick—they knew that going in. They disliked it because it gave them headaches. Thankfully, Warner has taken the criticism to heart and decided to buy the Wrath of the Titans production team a set of shiny new Red Epic camera rigs. Color me interested.
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
April
- 4/06: Titanic 3D (Paramount/Fox) - You thought The Lion King made a lot of money in it's recent re-release? Wait until Titanic finds its way back into the cinema. Avatar may have broken all of Titanic's records, but it also had twelve years of inflation and a hefty 3D premium working toward its box office total. Make no mistake—Titanic is still the most popular film since E.T. It's definitely a stretch, but I don't think it's completely out of the question for Titanic to reclaim the box-office crown. Did I mention the trailer looks pretty great?
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes
◄ Fall 2011 | Summer 2012 ►
