Quickly exploiting a good thing, Disney and Disney-Pixar will release 3D versions of “Beauty and the Beast,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters. Inc., and “The Little Mermaid” in theaters in 2012 and 2013.
The announcement comes on the heels of an $80 million run over the past three weekends in U.S. theaters for the 3D version of “The Lion King,” which caught the entire industry off-guard and is now expected to spark a resurgence in the viability of 3D in general and especially for classic makeovers such as the previously announced 2012 3D re-releases of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and “Titanic.”
The Blu-ray 3D version of “The Lion King” hits stores this week.
Ironically, after a disappointing performance in late 2009 of a double-bill of 3D conversions of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” in advance of the premiere of “Toy Story 3 in 3D,” Disney’s planned theatrical re-release of a 3D version of “Beauty and the Beast” in early 2010 and was delayed a couple times and is now going straight to Blu-ray 3D this week (and it looks every bit as good, if not better than “The Lion King”). “Beauty” had a brief theatrical showing exclusively at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood last month as a promotion for the Blu-ray 3D release.
Now the 1991 movie that has grossed $380.4 million worldwide and was the first animated film ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture will be released theatrically after all on January 13, 2012.
(Disney also announced today that all three “Toy Story” movies will be released on Blu-ray 3D for the first time Nov. 1.)
Next up for theaters will be “Finding Nemo” in 3D on September 14, 2012. The 2003 Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature was the second highest-grossing film of that year with $867.6 million worldwide.
The studio will try again to use a 3D version of one of its films to promote the sequel when it releases a 3D version of “Monsters, Inc.” January 18, 2013, prior to the debut of “Monsters University” (actually, a prequel) in 3D on June 21, 2013. The original grossed $526.9 million worldwide.
A 3D version of “The Little Mermaid,” which won two Academy Awards and has grossed $228.9 million worldwide will premiere that fall on Sept. 13, 2013.
“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Alan Bergman, President, The Walt Disney Studios. “We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen.”
— By Scott Hettrick
Please tell me Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. will be true native S3D re-renders from original CG assets. I was seriously underwhelmed by The Lion King 3D, although yeah, it’s hard to find a more difficult source for conversion than flat 2D animation cells.