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Avatar 2 producer thinks Hollywood treated 3D as “an afterthought”

The producer of Avatar 2 explains how 3D movie screenings could make a comeback, and laments the way Hollywood previously handled the format

A member of the Na'vi tribe in Avatar 2

Remember when the first Avatar movie came out and everyone lost their collective minds over the stunning 3D visuals the sci-fi movie crafted? And then, remember how since Avatar, no one seems to care about 3D movies at all, and actually most people actively avoid them? Well, the producer of Avatar 2 thinks he knows how to fix the problem, and what caused it in the first place.

The original Avatar movie is the highest grossing movie of all time, and a large part of that success is down to the hype surrounding the 3D technology that was used in making the fantasy movie. With the Avatar 2 release date set for December 2022, there will inevitably be a swell of renewed interest in the three-dimensional movie-going experience, and it could be the key to 3D movies finally being established as a viable option for studios and audiences alike.

According to James Cameron’s producing partner on Avatar 2, John Landau, the appeal of 3D movies got lost along the way due to filmmakers and studios in Hollywood utilising it for the wrong reasons.

“I think what happened is some people got lost, and there’s a period of time where people felt that converting something to 3D made it a better movie,” Landau told The Hollywood Reporter. “3D does not change the movie, 3D exacerbates whatever the movie is,” Landau added.

“I think that people were doing it as an afterthought to a process, as opposed to [using] 3D as a creative element — no different than lighting, no different than focus, no different than camera movement — that a filmmaker needs to bring a sensibility of how to use that to enhance the narrative storytelling,” Landau concluded.

We have to say, we agree with this sentiment. Nowadays, most 3D screenings seem to have one or two cool moments that make use of the technology, but by the end of the movie you simply end up forgetting it’s even supposed to be 3D and lamenting the annoying glasses you had to wear.

Here’s hoping Avatar 2 can recapture the magic of three-dimensional filmmaking when the epic adventure movie hits the big screen this winter.