In what is the most non-exciting, predictable news of the day, discussions between Michael Bay, Paramount and Industrial Light & Magic are underway to determine if “Transformers 3” will be in the 3D (our guess: um, yes). The sticking point seems to be if they will actually film in 3D — which may slow down production on a film that is aiming to hit theaters on July 1, 2011 — or just run it through a 3D conversion in post-production.
Cue what Bay said about 3D just last year. “I think 3-D is going to be a fad. I personally don’t like 3-D. The glasses impair your peripheral vision. If the studios want to push any technology, it should be IMAX. That’s much more immersive.”
Hmm, gotcha. As you might guess, many of us at the Playlist, despite the wonders of “Avatar,” kinda agree with the Michael Bay of 2009 and regard 3D as a passing gimmick rather than a long lasting, substantive filmmaking device. Our perception of this certainly isn’t helped by many films being given the 3D treatment as a cash-grab afterthought (hello, “Clash Of The Titans”) rather than something that’s conceived from the drawing board.
Whichever direction they go with this, we sort of don’t really care about “Transformers 3” anyway. While Hollywood is anxious to cash in on the post-“Avatar” audience craving for dazzling special effects suits may end up killing the novelty of it by grinding out every tentpole title in the format rather than making a 3D film a unique event.
