Is 3D still cool or a ‘Tax’ on moviegoers? Three top directors say the format’s overused

Alfonso Cuaron, Edgar Wright and Marc Webb discussed everything from high school teachers to Buster Keaton at Comic-Con on Thursday, but there was one subject where they were all in agreement – 3D.

Even though both Cuaron and Webb’s next films were shot in 3D – “Gravity” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” respectively – they both acknowledged there are too many 3D movies out there.

“In most cases it’s not necessary,” Cuaron said…

https://movies.yahoo.com/news/3d-still-cool-tax-moviegoers-three-top-directors-230141745.html

Blockbuster busts: Big summer flicks in peril

The world may have ended several times at the movies this summer, but it’s the blockbuster itself that is really in peril.

“Pacific Rim,” the post-apocalyptic, monsters-versus-robots action thriller, did perform slightly better than predicted at the box office with a $38.3 million weekend take. But the Warner Bros. film has a long way to go before it can declare itself even remotely successful.

Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) prepare to fight monsters in “Pacific Rim.”

Kerry Hayes / Warner Bros. Pictures

Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi play the pilots of giant robots in “Pacific Rim.”

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, “Rim” cost nearly $200 million to make and placed third behind “Grown Ups 2,” which collected $42.5 million, and “Despicable Me 2,” which netted nearly $48 million in its second weekend.

So even though “Pacific Rim” opened a little above its $30 million domestic estimate, it will need a huge boost internationally to avoid being designated a total flop…

https://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/pacific-rim-fails-save-summer-box-office-6C10620418

Future of 3D TV dims as ESPN yanks in-your-face channel

TV sports in 3D was supposed to be a slam dunk, but viewers never got the picture. And, then there were those stupid-looking glasses, too.

This week, ESPN acknowledged the future for in-your-face screen action looks dim when it announced it was pulling the plug on ESPN 3D, almost three years after launching it with considerable fanfare…

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/future-3d-tv-dims-espn-yanks-your-face-channel-6C10312930