Despite saying filming in 3D is “a pain in the neck to shoot” it seems Paramount has persuaded Transformers director Michael Bay into considering the idea. Filming on Transformers 3 is expected to begin in June, and Bay recently told MTV that we may see some three dimensional robot action next year, depending on how well the tests go.

“It’s a process we’re testing with some ‘Transformers’ scenes,” he said. “How successful it is with my movie in terms of a lot of real stuff coming out of the frame, real dirt, real complicated little particles coming towards the lens, because hopefully that process will work. I’ve seen some tests that look great on other movies. I just want to see how it looks on my footage.”

He also said they would be “adding a lot of new elements” along with “new characters” and “a lot of twists”, which should be interesting. At least twists may encourage the audience to think a little, instead of them just sat covering their ears.

In other Transformers 3 news Michael Bay’s blog was updated yesterday saying there will be big action sequences shot in Chicago and Moscow later this year. This could mean that Russia will be getting invaded by robot aliens this time round, or it could simply be a good place to shoot. The opening sequence of Revenge of the Fallen was set in Shanghai, but it was actually filmed in Pennsylvania.

I guess we will be hearing more news about the film in the upcoming months, and I expect to hear about the casting of a sexually attractive 20 year old female actress in the near future too. Bay will find a way to get some in there, as always.

Back in 1991 James Cameron was interested in directing a big screen adaptation of Spider-Man, and his script can still be read on the internet today. After the announcement that Sony would be rebooting Spidey Cameron said that he wasn’t interested in the opportunity to direct the webslinger again, calling it “sloppy seconds”, however it appears he is still interested in the reboot to some extent, having recently met with director Marc Webb.

From MTV:

“Last [week] we met the director of [the next 'Spider-Man' film],” Landau said. “[Webb] wants to do the next one in 3D, which they’ve announced that they want to do. So, we want to try to support that as much as possible.”

“Jim loved ‘(500) Days of Summer,’” Landau continued. “It’s not something that you would think is necessarily in his wheelhouse, but he really enjoyed that.”

Producer Jon Landau also spoke about other movies that recently caught the 3D bug following Avatar’s success:

“Other movies are turning to it now, some of which I agree with, some of which I don’t agree with. ‘Clash of The Titans’ is coming out in 3-D; they’re converting it very hastily into 3-D. I’m not in favor of that,” Landau explained, saying he and Cameron much prefer what “Spider-Man” is doing. “If you want to shoot a 3-D movie, shoot it in 3-D.”

Marc Webb hasn’t made a film in 3D before, so it looks like Sony brought in the 3D master to send him in the right direction. Production on the reboot will begin later this year, so expect to hear casting news over the upcoming months.

JoBlo reports that The Hollywood Reporter reports (the latter won’t load on my browser, hence this indirect route) that 3D test screenings for Clash of the Titans went well earlier this week, and so the film will hit cinemas in 3 glorious dimensions. Clash looks like it could be a great action epic (the creature designs are particularly awesome), and 3D will mean that the effects are even more in-our-faces. Which is good. Usually.

Shockingly, WB has also decided to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I & II in 3D, again meaning lots of magicflasherycolourfulsplosion effects coming right out of the screen at you. I enjoyed the use of the format in Coraline and Up, where it was utilised in a more subtle way to add more depth to a scene, rather than to exploit an insane amount of VFX (and our wallets), but the movies released this way will probably still look cooler anyway.

The inevitable ‘Avatar effect’ is taking…effect. Jon Favreau plans to film Cowboys and Aliens in 3D, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg shot Tintin in 3D, and now in an article by the NY Times we get names of a few more movies that might be adopting the technique.

Bryan Singer, who in the past directed summer blockbusters like “X-Men” and “Superman Returns,” asked New Line to consider using 3-D in filming his planned fantasy “Jack the Giant Killer.” The debate continues, according to people who have been briefed on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity because of studio policy.

Katie Martin Kelley, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said that studio had made no decision about whether its planned “Transformers” and “Star Trek” sequels would make the leap to 3-D, possibly giving the audience another sampling of the kind of immersive world devised by Mr. Cameron.

J. J. Abrams, who is developing another “Star Trek” film to be shot in the next couple of years, also declined to be interviewed about his plans for that franchise. But Paramount executives have already begun debating whether to shoot the next film in 3-D, even if that increases the cost and production difficulty, according to one person who was briefed on the talks but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.

Bryan Singer became a fan of 3D after seeing Avatar (he announced he would be directing X-Men: First Class at the Avatar premiere) and he mentioned he would like to use the technology for Jack the Giant Killer.

Micheal Bay, on the other hand, has previously expressed his dislike for 3D, saying “it’s a pain in the neck to shoot…I’ve heard that some people can’t even see 3-D and, moreover, that a major side effect of watching it is feeling exhausted. Can you imagine how you’d feel watching one of my movies in 3-D?”. Whether Bay likes it or not Paramount may be interested thanks to Avatar’s box office takings. 3D was a big factor in the film grossing over $1 billion.

I guess if the films mentioned above are shot in 3D then it will give people an option as to which format to see it in. Just because it’s shot in 3D doesn’t necessarily mean people have to see it that way, although Avatar showed that people don’t mind donning the glasses.

Would you want to see Transformers 3 and Star Trek 2 in 3D? Or aren’t you bothered either way?

Buried in an article by The Daily Beast (via /Film) about how the success of Avatar is changing movies and 3D, there is a short paragraph that mentions Cowboys and Aliens, which Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau signed up to direct last year. Apparently the film will start shooting in July, and Favreau will be filming it in 3D.

If July is indeed the planned filming date then that will only give Favreau 2 months rest after finishing Iron Man 2 to begin work on the film, which explores what would happen if the traditional Old West enemies – cowboys and Native Americans – found the prairie attacked by aliens in mid-1800s Arizona. Robert Downey Jr. has signed up to play a character called Zeke Jackson, who I assume is the lead cowboy, and the script was written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, writers of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek.

The teaming up of Favreau, Downey, Kurtzman, Orci could produce some very exciting results, especially is cowboys, Native Americans and aliens are involved in all out war. However the Transformers 2 script was weak in many areas that didn’t involve explosions, so hopefully Favreau can steer it away from mindless action and add some depth. Even if the plot is ridiculous.

Below is the first teaser poster for DreamWork’s How to Train Your Dragon courtesy of IMP Awards.

Poster removed at the request of Paramount

The story centers around a Viking teenager named Hiccup, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. The teen’s smarts and offbeat sense of humor don’t sit too well with his tribe or its chief…who just happens to be Hiccup’s father. However, when Hiccup is included in Dragon Training with the other Viking teens, he sees his chance to prove he has what it takes to be a fighter. But when he encounters (and ultimately befriends) an injured dragon, his world is flipped upside down, and what started out as Hiccup’s one shot to prove himself turns into an opportunity to set a new course for the future of the entire tribe.

How to Train Your Dragon, which will be released next March, is co-directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders who both worked on Lilo and Stitch, and features the voice talents of Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and America Ferrera.

A while back 20th Century Fox and Panasonic decided to team up in an effort to get the 3D revolution rolling. Panasonic have been providing hardware to James Cameron throughout the production of Avatar, and their first 3D TVs are expected to be heavily promoted with visuals from the movie alongside endorsements from Cameron himself.

The TV commercial below bears the first fruits of this 3D partnership as we get a glimpse at some new footage from Avatar while Panasonic advertise one of their TVs.

According to AICN Paramount and Marvel are apparently considering converting Iron Man 2 into 3D for it’s release.

Right now, there is a 1 minute demo of IRON MAN 2 converted to high quality digital 3D. I’m told this one minute is totally like Kim Basinger & Mickey Rourke in 9 1/2 WEEKS. HOT! Crazy Hot! Right now the Suits at Marvel & Paramount & now also Disney are considering this 1 minute.

At the same time that this is happening, they are fishing for bids with 3 different companies to see what the cost and time it would take to convert IRON MAN 2 to a complete 3D film. This same process is being done to Tim Burton’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND – but if this comes to pass. What will this mean for the rest of Marvel’s slate leading to THE AVENGERS? Will THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA also go through this process? Or will they be shot from the get go in 3D.

If this turns out to be true it will no doubt please 3D fans. I think a lot of movies in the future (big movies anyway) will be converted into 3D to give people the option of either 2 dimensions or 3. The conversion can be quite costly, but if people decide to see the movie in both 2D and 3D then they shouldn’t have a problem making their money back.

A few weeks ago word was flying around that The Hobbit films would be filmed in 3D. Upon hearing this TheOneRing.net threw up a poll asking if Tolkien fans wanted to see a three dimensional Middle Earth, and 75% of them said they didn’t (I agree with them). Then TheOneRing.net decided to ask director Guillermo del Toro if all this 3D talk was true:

Not wanting to disrupt the creative process going on around a pair of films based on “The Hobbit,” we nevertheless asked Guillermo del Toro just what exactly, if anything, was up with 3D Hobbit movies. Since he is the director of the films in question (you know, the guy who picks the director of photography, the cameras and formats and all that movie stuff) we thought he might know. Turns out he did and he told us, “I can safely say that, as of this moment, there are absolutely NO conversations about doing the HOBBIT films in 3D.”

Peter Jackson is a fan of 3D and will probably use it a lot in the future, having filmed Tintin in 3D, however it’s Guillermo del Toro who decides what’s happening. In my opinion Middle Earth is epic enough and doesn’t really need to be in 3D. What do you think?

Around two weeks ago we heard that Paul W.S. Anderson would be returning to direct Resident Evil: Afterlife and that filming was planned for September this year. What was not revealed, however, is that it will be in 3D. Milla Jovovich told ShockTillYouDrop that little nugget of info during an interview today:

“There’s a great script and it’s going to be pretty wild. It’s going to be in 3D,” she said diplomatically. “They figured out a lot of stuff. We start shooting in September, they’ve got it all figured out at this point.”

Anderson has really been getting prepared to make his return to directing the franchise since the first movie, especially with the 3D factor being added to the equation. “He’s been really studying it and seeing all the different things they have and watching every 3D movie ever made pretty much,” Milla told us. “Especially for a movie like this, because it’s wild and a lot of action and a lot of potential for 3D to use the medium at its best. Paul has been going to every 3D company and he’s now signed a deal to go with Jim Cameron’s 3D company–they did ‘Avatar’–It should be pretty interesting. I’ve never actually seen a 3D movie.”

James Cameron and his company spent years developing “3D virtual cameras which would produce stereoscopic 3D images simulating human sight” for Avatar, and the technology is supposed to bring 3D out of the ‘kid movie gimmick’ phase and revolutionize movies forever. That’s what we’ve been told anyway. We’ll have to wait till December to see if the technology achieves that, but with more and more movies being filmed in 3D it looks like we’ll be seeing more of it in the future anyhow.