NEWS: Iron Man 2 In 3-D?

Well, well, well. As if it wasn't just two days after the purchase of Marvel Comics, and it's over 5000 character library, by Disney, that we would get the inevitable talk of putting a film based on one of these characters into Disney 3-D.

Accourding to AICN's read headed leader Harry Knowles, that film may just be Iron Man 2. Here's the scoop:

Right now, there is a 1 minute demo of IRON MAN 2 converted to high quality digital 3D. I’m told this one minute is totally like Kim Basinger & Mickey Rourke in 9 1/2 WEEKS. HOT! Crazy Hot! Right now the Suits at Marvel & Paramount & now also Disney are considering this 1 minute.

At the same time that this is happening, they are fishing for bids with 3 different companies to see what the cost and time it would take to convert IRON MAN 2 to a complete 3D film.

This news should come as no surprise to anyone who knows anything about Disney and what they want to do with their film products. If they released documentaries, they would make THOSE in Disney 3-D. The House of The Mouse is probably the biggest proponent of 3-D technology. As exciting as this may sounds, I'm not sold AT ALL on this proposal. Film School Rejects sums up the worries rather well:

Unfortunately, there are a lot of studios that want to apply this format to just about every movie (Dreamworks) in order to raise ticket prices. But the piece they’re missing is the creative one, the ability to make 3D about depth of field and not yo-yos flying at the faces of the audience...

With live-action, the process is much different. The 3D effect is created by essentially creating a 3D environment and graphing the original 2D image on to a 3D polygon. You still have a 2D image, it is just wrapped around a 3D computer wire-mold. Think of the difference between a pop-up book or a shoebox diorama as opposed to a scale miniature model. Looking at the diorama appears to be more of a 2D image that’s sticking out at you, whereas the miniature model actually is in 3D. Such is the case with 3D rendering. There is a clear quality difference between live-action films shot in 3D and films that are rendered in 3D.

All in all, this is not surprising, but it isn't heartening either. It looks like Disney is already trying to get their three fingered paws on Marvel. Sure, it may just be 3-D, but it's also the principal. Director Jon Favreu has stated that he wouldn't mind doing Iron Man 3 in 3-D, but not two. The only thing keeping this and the merger for that matter from stinking up the joint is John Lassater, and the fact that Disney has seemed to keep Pixar's creative juices flowing. Sure, Up had some flaws that seemed to be due to involvement from Disney (Dug and the sketchiness in tone for example), but they still have been able to create classic films.

What do YOU think about this news?

Go see something good!