Posts Tagged ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

With so many bombs like "The Green Hornet" trying to sell 3D (converted no less), which don't even warrant a normally priced ticket, why should we not still consider 3D to be a money-grabbing gimmick that doesn't add enough to the viewing experience to justify the higher ticket price?

Dear Hollywood,

Please stop pushing 3D.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has underachieved in terms of earning first weekend grosses for 3D showings, with more audiences opting for 2D prints. Now, with $90.1 million earned its first weekend in just the U.S., and over $400 million to be earned worldwide by the end of its first full week, the film can hardly be considered unsuccessful. However, numbers show that American audiences’ interest in 3D could be waning. What everyone is trying to figure out is whether fewer 3D tickets sold means audiences are no longer seeing the value in 3D technology or they are becoming less inclined to fork over the extra cash for a 3D ticket.

Guess what Hollywood – if Americans are indeed sick of 3D it’s because of both reasons.

The list of recent movies released in 3D where the extra dimension actually added to the viewing experience is extremely short, including only Avatar, Tron: Legacy, How to Train Your Dragon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, and Monster House. Notice how four of those six are 100% animated, and the two “live action” films are ones which were greatly reliant on digital effects to the point where one could justifiably consider them mostly animated as well. This is not a coincidence, and such a pattern does not help the argument that 3D is the future of the medium. Personally, I won’t give that claim any consideration until I see a truly live action film wow me like the six just mentioned.

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Short Take: More pirates, less politics and romance. The best since "Black Pearl."

Director: Rob Marshall

Screenwriters: Ted Elliot and Terry Russio, Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides novel)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane

Length: 2h 17m

Synopsis: Jack Sparrow… er, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) is in London trying to recruit a crew and commandeer a vessel. Concurrent to this is someone posing as Jack, unbeknownst to him, doing the same thing (and a lot more publically as well). The imposter, it turns out, is a woman named Angelica (Cruz), whose past has intersected with Jack’s on several occasions. She, like him, is in search for the Fountain of Youth and is working with her father to find it. His name: Captain Blackbeard (McShane). Meanwhile Captain Barbossa (Rush), having lost the Black Pearl to Blackbeard in battle, has joined the Royal Navy of all things and is likewise in search for the Fountain, and eager to exact his revenge on the infamous pirate. As it so happens, using the Fountain requires a special procedure that includes elements not easily collected. Naturally, Jack tries to use both groups’ efforts to his own advantage, necessitating death-defying stunts and improvisations of incredible finesse. Savvy?

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Director Michael Bay with Megan Fox

Director Michael Bay himself has made known the release date of the next Transformers movie, along with a letter to ComingSoon.net with a note to lead actress Megan Fox, which reads as follows:

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.

Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.

Pain and Gain is right after shooting of Trans 3.

Michael

The summer of 2010 now has 2 huge projects slated for release, with the other being Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (no firm date yet set). Battleship (based off of the Hasbro game) is also scheduled to release around that summer.

Source: ComingSoon.net