The spread of new 3-D movie technology to theaters around the world has been slower than expected, but its prospects remain strong because it offers a better visual experience, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said Tuesday.
Promoting the new DreamWorks 3-D animated movie “Monsters vs. Aliens,” Katzenberg told The Associated Press in an interview that it takes about $100,000 to upgrade traditional theaters with new digital projectors and 3-D equipment.
“It’s harder to get financing right now,” he said, referring to the global financial downturn.
Katzenberg said there are about 2,000 3-D capable theaters in the U.S. and another 1,500 outside America, with about 200 in mainland China, several hundred in the United Kingdom and another 100 in France.
He said he expects those numbers to “multiply several times” in the next year or two because the new technology is significantly better than the previous generation of 3-D, saying they compare like “a horse and buggy” and a “Ferrari.”
In the meantime, “Monsters vs. Aliens,” which opens in the U.S. on Friday, will be released worldwide in both 2-D and 3-D formats, with about 15 to 20 percent of theaters releasing the movie in 3-D.
Katzenberg said the typical DreamWorks animated movie costs about $150 million to make and a 3-D movie adds another $15 million to the budget.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More