Celebrating his 50th birthday, James Bond has been learning some new tricks — but 3-D isn’t one of them.
Producers of the spy franchise say they have no interest in a making a Bond film in 3-D. The upcoming “Skyfall” is the first Bond film to be released since “Avatar” made 3-D a common and often lucrative practice for blockbusters.
“3-D is fantastic for the right material, but we’re not sure Bond is the right way to go,” said “Skyfall” producer Barbara Broccoli in a recent interview. “With our movies, there’s a lot of challenges to 3-D, particularly when you’ve got a lot of action and a lot of quick cutting.”
Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson have shepherded the last seven Bond films, preserving the franchise as a family business. “Skyfall,” which premieres next week in the U.K. and opens Nov. 9 in the U.S., follows 2008’s “Quantum of Solace” — released a year before James Cameron’s 3-D epic.
“It has to be right for our story,” said Broccoli. “Unless you can do something as well as (‘Avatar’), it’s probably not worth looking at.”
Wilson said there has been interest in converting some of the old Bond films into 3-D, which he called “more of a novelty.”
Shooting in 3-D, which requires larger cameras, can be cumbersome, and quick action shots can be awkward because viewers’ eyes don’t adjust rapidly enough. But 3-D, for which higher ticket prices are charged, can also bring in more box office.
Bond films, more classical in their 2-D, go for spectacle instead with IMAX. “Skyfall” will be released a day early, Nov. 8, in North America on IMAX screens.
Still, Broccoli left the door open for things to change. Daniel Craig is signed for at least two more Bond films, which will be the 24th and 25th in the franchise. Neither is currently being planned in 3-D.
“Who knows?” she said. “We’ll see if things change in the future.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More