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.”
Review: “Novocaine,” A Bloody Action-Comedy From Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen
Nathan Caine may not be able to feel pain, as the tagline for the new action-comedy "Novocaine" reads, but the same does not apply to audiences.
Although he doesn't scream when his leg is impaled with an arrow or when he sticks his hand in a vat of frying oil, you might. I certainly did. Out loud. In a theater. With other people. There may have been some phrases uttered entirely involuntarily too. Were other people reacting in the same way, I wonder? I couldn't hear them over my own groans. Hooray for the communal experience, I guess?
This is, in some ways, a film for people who thought John Wick wasn't stabby enough. It delights in the relentless mutilation of its hero, a regular guy (played by Jack Quaid ) with a rare condition that has rendered him immune from feeling any sort of discomfort to bodily harm. Unlike such high concept premises as "Crank," congenital insensitivity to pain analgesia (or CIPA) is actually real. But it's not exactly a superpower, Nate explains. He can still die; it just might be because he hasn't emptied his bladder in many hours. Or because he's accidentally bitten his tongue off eating a sandwich. These are real concerns of his.
His entire existence is devoted to preventing these kinds of crises, mostly through tried-and-true baby proofing techniques like using tennis balls on sharp corners. Like Kelly Ripa before a show, he only consumes "non-chewing food."
Work is stable and dull as an assistant manager at a bank. And dating is out of the question; He spends most of his free time playing online video games. Quaid, even with his two movie star parents, is somehow believable as this cautious introvert, though everything is played with a light touch and a wink. The movie, written by Lars Jacobson and... Read More