MarketSaw Exclusive Gains Traction!! You Heard It Here First - Harrison Ford Circling STAR WARS: EPISODE VII

Well if you are a MarketSaw reader than you know that we had this story a LONG time ago in a post far, far away. But going back even further to October 21, 2009 we were the first to break the story that the STAR WARS franchise will have Episodes VII, VIII and IX *AND* that they were going to be in stereoscopic 3D *AND* that George Lucas would NOT be directing.

All of that has been been proven correct and verified by Lucasfilm (eventually - they denied it at first of course) and Disney.

Let's skip ahead to November 2, 2012 now, when we broke yet another exclusive story that the third trilogy (EP VII, VIII and IX) will in fact bring back the original stars including Harrison Ford as Hans Solo. Yeah, this is old news. Ford may be close to signing something, but the fact that the story involves him and that he may have already been approached is MarketSaw's story.

It's nice to know that all of our STAR WARS exclusives are coming true (just like all of our AVATAR and HOBBIT exclusives) but it does irk me that other sites claim to have the exclusives on these things. Not by a long shot.

Keep checking back with us if you want to be the first to know, months if not YEARS before other sites. More STAR WARS and AVATAR news soon!!

Source: Ford close to signing via Latinoreview 

 

Rumor Control: Glasses-Free 3D - Give Me Something That Works!

Yes, glasses-free (autostereoscopic) 3D technology is advancing. It's been advancing for a very long time, especially in the past 7 years and on hand-held devices. I've seen a plethora of these ideas come and go. "I've solved it! We have the technology to take away 3D glasses from watching stereoscopic movies!"

Right. Prove it. Don't show me in some darkened convention booth with my feet firmly planted in a small yellow circle painted on the floor. Prove it pragmatically - in a theater, with me sitting in all regions of place. I want to move my head around a bit for comfort, shift in my seat. And I want perfect, high resolution with support for up to at least 60 frames per second. Can't do it? Don't waste my time!

Much has been said and shared about the recent Wired article praising a new glasses-free 3D technology out of South Korea - I just shake my head in disgust. First of all the whole article is biased against 3D to begin with - here's its first sentence: "Watching 3-D movies generally means suffering through two things: crappy plotlines that favor spectacle over substance and the need to wear some annoying, dorky glasses."

Right. I've got news for you Adam Mann (author of the post), hating 3D is soooooo 2010. We're past it. Huge infrastructure investments have been made, movie goers support the format, most of the world's creative talent have embraced it and we are well past such ignorant journalism. You want something to hate that is actually in vogue? High frame rates. I am actually heavily in favor of HFR, but I can understand why others need to be heard right now to help shape its future - just as others voiced there opinion and helped shape 3D's future 6 years ago when I started MarketSaw. Back then, I helped educate and thoroughly evangelized 3D in all forums because most people needed it. Today, they're educated for the most part. Putting on 3D glasses for 2 hours is no more annoying than wearing sunglasses at the beach for 2 hours. It's old news. Very old.

If and when glasses-free technology exists THAT WORK, I will be first in line. But before then, there is NO story here. Ridiculous waste of time. The current polarized 3D glasses are just fine thank you.

Click to enlarge

And about the whole supposed point of the Wired post - a NEW method that could allow glasses-free 3D in theaters - complete hogwash. That's lenticular technology (the vertical lines are clearly seen in this photo from their post) and it's been around for a VERY long time. It still has the same issues, the same frustrations. There is nothing new about it. Oh it's projected? WOW! That's novel! Not.

And other movie sites pick up the story! Spreading this misleading story. Why? It's Wired. A fairly good name in breaking tech stories. Heck MarketSaw has even been featured in it. Seeing how they've handled this fiasco though, brings me a great deal of pause. Wired ain't what it used to be it seems.

Here's my final word: Lenticular 3D has been around a very long time. It works - modestly in small scale situations, like movie posters. If you move your head around a bit, it doesn't work. It's horrible with resolutions. Artifacts exist in motion. Dead zones exist depending on your position relative to the screen. Now you're saying that you want to PROJECT this mess on to a HUGE screen and call it progress? Please.

Come back when you have something that actually works well and has the potential to work well.

Rumor Control: Director Jon Chu Denies G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Conjecture - Delay Is Merely For The Best Possible 3D Conversion

Jon Chu has put to rest any rumors circulating about why Paramount pushed back his movie G.I. JOE: RETALIATION. The delay is to make sure the 3D conversion is done right and without being rushed. Good move.

Here's what the source, General Joes, said Jon Chu said to them (they gave no direct quotes from the director unfortunately - this is paraphrasing):  

The director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation denies claims that there is any contention whatsoever between himself and Paramount, and he is in fact currently at work on the film. The long length of the delay was actually at his request to make sure if they were going to go through the 3D conversion that they do it the right way and not be rushed.

He did admit that he was disappointed about the push back of the film, but he is working hard to do the film right. In fact, the director, who already has significant 3D experience with Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, said to me that he hopes to try some “fun new things” with the technology as we move towards the new release date in 2013.

While he obviously could not confirm any specific details about reshoots, he did say that any new scenes they are shooting will endeavor to be as good as they can be in 3D to make the wait worth while.

Mr. Chu did want to make sure that I relayed his deep appreciation for all of the great feedback he’s received so far and for how well he is being accepted and treated by the fans of the franchise. He and Paramount are “working very well together” and from the sounds of it, the film is on the right track as we move towards March, 2013. He was quite happy and satisfied that Paramount agreed to give them the extra time and resources required to do the film in 3D the right way. 

So there you have it, more or less from THE guy who should know what's happening on the production. It's actually exactly what I wanted to hear, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie in 3D as I was hoping for in the first place!

Source: General Joes via /Film

Rumor Control - Cameron Confirms What We Already Know: He Will Definitely Direct... NA'VI?

Jim here. If you have been following along recently there was an unsubstantiated rumor circling the interwebs that James Cameron will not be directing AVATAR 2 and that he would only be producing.

We called BS on that one and got to the bottom of it immediately through our trusted sources. Rest assured Cameron is directing as he verbally confirmed (via SciFiWire) at the Visual Effects Society Awards where he received their lifetime achievement award. He may bring someone on to train them for future movies, but I think that is posturing as well for his negotiations with Fox. My money says he will be directing the whole trilogy.

Further, Cameron talked about the potential title of the first sequel and what it will NOT be called: AVATAR 2. Says Cameron, "Certainly I don't want to call it Avatar 2. He's not an avatar anymore, is he? Maybe we'll call it Na'vi."

It looks like Cameron will be able to focus more on the spiritual side of the Na'vi with AVATAR 2. "I think we can see that there's a greater receptivity to it on the part of the audience than certainly the studio originally imagined," Cameron said. "We pared back on it a fair bit in the first film, and I think we can go farther in that direction and not alienate people."

So good news all around I think. Future Earth, different moons, war and spirituality (Sigourney Weaver is still alive!) for AVATAR 2 it seems so far!

I have some new info on just what MIGHT be in AVATAR 2 and will be posting something soon. It is very hard at this stage to positively say anything about the movie as brainstorming has yet to conclude. As new ideas surface, others may be back burnered. I will be sure to make sure everyone knows that when I post them. Stay tuned!