Finally, someone see’s sense! Take a read of this (via THR) statement from Warner Bros.
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Warner Bros. Pictures has made the decision to release “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” in 2D, in both conventional and IMAX theaters, as we will not have a completed 3D version of the film within our release date window. Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality. We do not want to disappoint fans who have long anticipated the conclusion of this extraordinary journey, and to that end, we are releasing our film day-and-date on November 19, 2010, as planned. We, in alignment with our filmmakers, believe this is the best course to take in order to ensure that our audiences enjoy the consummate “Harry Potter” experience.
Producer David Heyman said, “For 10 years, we have worked alongside Alan Horn and the studio, whose priority has always been to preserve the integrity of Jo Rowling’s books as we have adapted them to the screen, and this decision reflects that commitment.”
Director David Yates added, “This decision, which we completely support, underscores the fact that Warner Bros. has always put quality first.”
As scheduled, on July 15, 2011, we will deliver to conventional and IMAX theaters our final installment of the film franchise, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” in both 2D and 3D formats.
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We’ve all seen the likes of Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland and how shoddy a conversion they were. And systemically, those 2 movies alone, done serious damage to what is perceived as 3D to the general public. Simply put, the technology isn’t there just yet for “proper” 2D to 3D conversion. Even more simply put, some dude, or a group of dudes set in front of a computer and tell it what's the background and foreground, thus creating some form of lame ass 3D illusion. I’ve yet to see a good conversion, as to date, these conversions have been rush jobs to capitalise on the 3D goldrush created by Avatar. I watched an interesting interview with John Knoll from ILM talking about the Star Wars 3D conversion process and he reckons each one will take a year to complete. And that, gives me some form of hope.
Either way, credit where it’s due, Warner Bros. have been bitten in the past with 3D conversion (namely Titans) and at least they have gone with the decision not to make a balls up of the beginning of the end for the Harry Potter franchise. If they ploughed ahead and fucked it up (which no doubt it would have been, on past experiences) the uproar around the world could have well and truly done irreparable damage to 3D as a whole.That interview I mentioned with John Knoll is embedded below and I have a pretty lengthy(ish) article on further thoughts and problems on 3D that you can read (from April this year) by clicking here.
