We've known for awhile that both Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. have shown interest to respectively direct and star in the comic adaptation
Cowboys and Aliens; a story that unites Wild West gunslingers and Native Americans against an invading alien force. The Daily Beast has just revealed some insight that not only is Favreau attached to direct, but the film might be his first foray into the 3-D movie making realm.
Cowboys and Aliens, a Dreamworks project, is also supposedly set to start production this July for a release date sometime in 2011. Bad news for fans hoping to see
Iron Man 3 any time soon.
Though these rumors have yet to be confirmed by the studio, Dreamworks' CEO Stacey Snider had this to say:
“There’s no doubt that people all through the industry over the holidays were thinking, ‘Should we do this movie in 3-D? Is this worthy?’”
“For us, it isn’t about genre or demographic but more about the scope of the world that you’re creating,” Snider went on.
The 3-D epidemic is definitely sweeping Hollywood faster than Swine Flu. Director Ridley Scott supposedly wanted
Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe, to be in 3-D. Unfortunately, Scott had the idea too late in the game since principal photography was already wrapping up. A Hollywood executive unrelated to the project stated that if Universal, the studio behind
Robin Hood, had decided to convert a mid-production film into 3-D it could add an estimated minimum of $50 million to the budget.
Mr. Scott isn't the only A-list director to be bitten by the 3-D bug. Steven Spielberg's next project is
The Adventures of Tintin, based on the long running comic series. The film will utilize both 3-D and motion capture to bring the story of a young reporter and his amalgam of odd friends to life.
It's pretty apparent that a comic adaptation like
Cowboys and Aliens is just the type of film to benefit from the 3-D treatment; but we should hope studios won't be spending more effort on glittery effects while forsaking solid scripts and quality casting.