20th Century Fox is stepping out on a mission to convert a heap of its movies into 3D Blu-rays, beginning with I, Robot -- bringing the Fresh Prince into your living room like never before.
Fox is planning to to convert a "series of legacy movies" from flat, old 2D into slap-you-in-the-face 3D, Home Media Magazine reports, with the 2004 Asimov adaptation leading the charge. Fox isn't forthcoming on exactly how many movies will see the conversion or what other titles we should expect, but I'd like to assume they'll go ahead and do everything Will Smith has ever been in.
Converting a feature film from 2D to 3D typically costs between $50,000 to $70,000 per minute, but Fox's partner JVC Kenwood has devised a new system that should reduce that cost by around a third.
"The advances in 3D conversion technology developed by JVC have exceeded our most optimistic expectations," Fox said in a statement. Whether it's purely referring to cost or to the quality of the conversion though isn't clear. Previous 3D conversions haven't been met with much enthusiasm from the movie-loving public, so I'm hoping JVC has struck gold with its new methods.
3D films are the hot topic at the moment -- at least, so we're told by movie executives -- with most major blockbusters coming out with an extra dimension. It's not all bad, though. My most excellent colleague Luke Westaway recently saw the 3D release of Titanic and was impressed at the added effect. Fox might also be hoping the third dimension helps with all the Converse placements.
There's no word on when we can expect to see I, Robot or any other Fox flicks hitting our shelves, so it looks as though we're going to have to be patient for the time being.
Are you excited for more 3D converted movies? What titles, if any, would you be particularly keen to see? Let me know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page.