Titanic director spies 3D iceberg

Cameron ponders future of cinema

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Entertainment, 25th April 2006 13:55 GMT

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Iceberg-worrying film director James Cameron has declared that he has seen the future of movies - and that it's in glorious digital 3D, the BBC reports.

He reckons Hollywood should release "more digital 3D movies as a way of luring people back into cinemas and reducing piracy", describing a three-dimensional format as "a powerful experience" which could be applied to new projects and "offer a fresh perspective on classic films".

Accordingly, Cameron told the National Association of Broadcasters' Digital Cinema Summit in Las Vegas he was mulling a 3D re-release of Titanic as part of his plan for the film industry "to fight back harder, come back blazing, not wither away and die".

He rather agreeably vowed not to produce material "for people to watch on their cellphones", adding: "I don't want that grand, visionary, transporting movie experience made for the big screen to become a thing of the past."

The Beeb notes that several projects are already slated for the 3D treatment. The list starts rather unpromisingly with "a remake of Journey to the Centre of the Earth... shot in live action with so-called 'stereographic' cameras", but soon improves with the prospect of a 30th-anniversary 3D version of the original Star Wars flick.

More 3D magic is promised in the form of Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, (3D filming techniques) and Disney's computer-animation Meet the Robinsons (3D projection).

Finally, Peter Jackson has hinted he may knock out a 3D version of King Kong, although film lovers can only hope this remains flatly on the drawing board. ®

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