It only takes one surprisingly successful film to spark a new Hollywood trend. For instance, the breakout 2009 hit The Hangover paved the way for the eight R-rated comedies that were released this summer. The unparalleled grosses of Avatar motivated studios to start shooting everything in 3-D — or at least convert their films to the third dimension after the fact. And now, thanks to the unexpected box-office dominance of Disney’s The Lion King 3D, we may have a new craze to anticipate and/or fear: the 3-D rerelease.
In just 10 days, The Lion King 3D has earned $61.5 million, topping the box office two weekends in a row and exceeding Disney’s wildest hopes for the 17-year-old movie. “There has been very low success with rereleases historically,” says Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive VP of theatrical exhibition sales and distribution. “Originally, we thought [The Lion King 3D] would do somewhere in the low-to-mid teens its first weekend.”
Instead, the 3-D rerelease wound up debuting to $30.2 million — the fourth-best September opening ever. As a result, Disney will be extending Simba’s stay in theaters past the studio’s originally intended two-week engagement, even though the film is being released on Blu-ray next Tuesday.
When The Lion King 3D‘s massive numbers came in, you could practically hear Tinseltown’s studio executives collectively exclaim, “Aha!” Stereoscopic conversions were already in progress for Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace and Titanic, which will be released next year on Feb. 10 and April 6, respectively. (A 3-D version of Top Gun is also expected to hit theaters in 2012, but Paramount hasn’t announced a release date yet.) But these films could be just the beginning of an avalanche of 3-D reissues. “They see the potential,” Avatar director James Cameron recently told the Los Angeles Times. “All it takes is a little healthy greed.”
But before we start building an underground shelter to protect ourselves against the possible threat that is My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3-D, let’s give Hollywood a chance. As I spoke to a number of industry insiders about the future of 3-D reissues, a set of rules started to emerge regarding which films should be rereleased in 3-D and how. It was encouraging to hear that, at least at this juncture, there is an understanding that only a select few motion pictures deserve The Lion King 3D treatment.
Here are those rules for 3-D rereleases. Hollywood, you shall not disobey:
1. Pick only the crème de la crème of beloved blockbusters.
There are hundreds of box-office hits that Hollywood can choose from for a 3-D rerelease, but studios should be picky. “There is a judiciousness that needs to be applied to carefully selecting films that transcend time, that appeal broadly across generations, and that will be meaningful again in a new format,” says Hollis. “From our perspective, there are not many films that are going to satisfy all the prerequisites.” The Lion King, however, was the rare movie that did.
2. Get the original filmmakers involved.
Don Hahn, who produced The Lion King back in 1994, oversaw its 3-D conversion and consulted with the film’s directors, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. If the original filmmakers refuse to participate or are no longer around, then you may be better off leaving the film alone. “I don’t think you want to convert some classic title like Citizen Kane,” says Rob Hummel, president of the 3-D conversion company Legend3D. “You don’t know what Orson Welles’ intent was in certain scenes.”
3. Wait until there’s a new generation of moviegoers to experience the film.
Enough time had passed since The Lion King‘s original release that those who initially saw the film as a child were now old enough to take their own children to see the 3-D reissue. And those who were parents when the movie first came out may now have grandchildren. Rereleases provide one generation the opportunity to share its nostalgic memories with the next generation. But this “circle of life” will only work if the studios remain patient.
4. No quickie conversions.
“If you go compromising the process, you damage the business for everyone,” says Hummel. The Legend3D president estimates that a 110-minute film can be converted from 2-D to 3-D for about $3 million or $4 million. The cost has fallen as the company’s software has rapidly improved — that price tag would have approached $10 million a year ago. And then you have a perfectionist like James Cameron, who convinced Fox and Paramount to spend $18 million to convert Titanic over the course of a year.
5. Give the movie the marketing campaign it deserves.
After the painstaking process of converting some classic film to 3-D, don’t get cold feet when it’s time to release the picture. Assuming you picked a movie worthy of being rereleased, you should advertise it as the big tent-pole that it is. “Disney marketed The Lion King 3D as if it were a completely new release, which is what you need to do,” says a Hollywood executive who opted to remain anonymous.
Read more:
Box office report: Lion King 3D defends crown with $22.1 mil
The Lion King 3D: Is the 3-D worth it to see Simba on the big screen again?
Summer box office hits record $4.4 billion, but…
If you have to convert old films to 3D (I guess it’s inevitable) these are good rules to follow. How cool would a 3D of Wizard of Oz be, though? I know it breaks #2, but I don’t think Judy and the gang would mind.
I don’t, however, like the idea of a rerelease of Phantom Menace – but that has nothing to do with 3-D.BTW,I wanna share a good news to you.My best friend ,she just has announced her wedding with a millionaire man who is a celebrity !they met via Millionaireloving.C óM ..it is the largest and best club for celebrity and their admirers to chat online.You do not have to be rich or famous. ,but you can meet one , It’s worthy a try,Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends!
So.. am I the only one who felt disappointed by the Lion king? Don’t get me wrong, I am not a hater or a troll. And I love almost all the Disney movies, however, watching this again on the big screen made me realise that the story doesn’t hold up anymore. It felt dull at times actually
I loved the Lion King when I when it first came out and I loved it when I saw it last weekend…if anything 28 yr old me was probably more excited for it than 12 yr old me. Corny as this sounds, there was something almost magical about an entire theater full of people in my age range (we went to a late showing so there were only about 7 kids) singing along to the songs and quoting the movie in memorable scenes.
Actually I agree with Mephysto (I was disappointed), but for a different reason: we saw Beauty & The Beast 3D the week before also at the El Captian in Hollywood and it just looked a heck of a lot better than Lion King. Nothing to do with the story or anything like that, it just didn’t transfer as well to 3D as B&B.
I never was in love with Lion King, but paid $20 at the El Capitan in Hollywood so I could watch it with a full audience. There was a 7 year old sitting next to me and she had a Simba doll and she sang along. To me, that was worth the price of admission- seeing the next generation something that was “old.” I hope Phantom Menace tanks. It’s too soon and that is far from “cream of the crop.” As Mr. Plinkett says, it’s cinematic diarrhea.
Rule #6. Don’t.
Stop with the trends. Or go ahead anyway and lose money.
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Of all the “Star Wars” films to re-release in 3D, they’re going with “The Phantom Menace”?
Maybe Lucas thinks we’ll finally “get” Jar-Jar if he/she/it is in 3D….
Maybe he’ll retroactively “improve” the film by cutting Jar Jar out. One can hope.
I think he’s re-releasing them all in 3-D, in “order” – I through VI.
Yeah 1 through 6 one per year
Only The Phantom Menace will be release in 3D.. The rest of them will be in 2D.. Apparently the conversion for all six movies was taking too much time and money so Lucas dropped the idea
the phantom menance shouldnt be in 3d! i liked the 1st three wait accorrding to lucus its 4,5,6 ….theyve shouldnt be in 3d either! holloywood is out of ideas & are rehashing old movies by putting thme iin 3D or by remaking them. i loved lion king when it first came out..but im not going to pay $$$$ for something ive already seen years ago =/
My thoughts exactly. I might wait in line to see the original in 3-D. But the Phantom Menace sucks in every dimension.
omg lion king for SURE!!!!!!its heart touching howtiut being borderline depressing, like bambi, tarzan dumbo.the music is inspiring, the animation is superb, the characters character relations, especially young simba mufassa will DEF touch your heart!!!!!!!the scene with the stampede gets me everytime, idk about u. then sometimes where mufassa visits him in the sky after hes dead
I think people have had enough of 3D. In my city, it was playing in both 3D and 2D versions and most people were looking to take their children to the 2D version. I know I was excited when I found a theatre playing the 2D version. The theatre was packed with people who didn’t want to pay the higher ticket cost or try to get their children to keep the glasses on for the entire movie. I think Lion King is the exception and parents just wanted to take their children to a quality movie in a theatre.
I agree. I figured it did well, not because of the 3D, but because it’s the frickin Lion King! What parent wouldn’t enjoy the chance to share a classic Disney movie with their kids?
Totally!
I agree – I wanted to take my kids to the 2D version to avoid the high ticket prices. Wound up at 3D because the showing I wanted to go to was only available in 3D; in fact, the theaters near me had about 9 3D showings to every 2D showing, so fitting in a 2D would have been hard to do. Wish the studios knew that the 3D conversion wasn’t necessarily what made this a success.
This site SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! The writers are ALWAYS wrong!!! It sttars! Not ends on september 16th!!!!!!!! Do you have brain-dead monkeys writing these articles!!!???????????? And nothing is ever corrected!!!
I think I may take my kids to a 2D showing next weekend. Both myself and one of my daughters have an eye condition where we can’t see 3D anyway.
I personally LOVE the Lion King. The good gtnihs about it is that a really good, touching story that has a balance of good and evil. sad and happy at the same time, and it also has cool, catchy songs. I think this is [...]
Who would pay to see Titanic in theaters again? I already paid to see it like 5 times when it was originally released, bought the VHS, DVD, and special edition DVD combo pack with extended scenes. I don’t think Titanic will do well in theaters because most people own it and it is on TV all the time!
There’s nothing like seeing an epic such as Titanic on the big screen–I remember being eight years old (and deep in the throes of Leo Fever) when my mom took me to see it in theaters after months of begging. I own the DVD and it’s my “must watch no matter when I tune in” movie, but even so, I’m still going to see it in theaters–part of Titanic’s lure was seeing it in theaters (hence the 10 month run). Titanic will do well because it’s Titanic and one of the most epic love stories. Tons of women are going to see that movie in droves, as well as the younger generation thanks to the Bieber showing off his worth this past weekend.
Me too, I plan on seeing it again on the big screen. Meg, you are lucky your mother gave in to your begging! My daughter was also 8 years old when it came out and I refused to let her see the movie in the theater. I thought it wasn’t a movie for children to see. And I have never lived this down, she reminds me all the time how i wouldn’t let her go see Titanic when all her friends got to see it. Now that she is 21, i plan to take her to see it in the theater and I can’t wait!
@Jean – that’s actually incredibly sweet. Might plan to do the same with my mom!
I think Titanic will flop. That movie has not held up well. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVED it when I was like 15 and saw it in the theater. I tried to watch it on VHS in college and it was so ridiculous and not good anymore. I don’t think many people will care about a 3D release of it.
The look on that cat’s face is awesome! You shuold send it to icanhazcheeseburgers.com. We have that same lion, and neither one of my brainiacs can figure out how to pull with their feet.That was such a cute tail. I can so relate to that from when I was a kid with a kitty. I wish I had a kitty right now.
i agree with you! well said =)
Rule #6: Limited Time Only. Everyone I know was in a rush to see The Lion King 3D because it was only supposed to be out for 2 weeks. There was no, “Oh, maybe next weekend” mentality. Without the promise/threat of a limited 2-week engagement, I don’t know that The Lion King would have pulled this off.
It totally would’ve. Disney kids at heart (especially the college kids rediscovering the classics of their youth–and that includes Disney movies) will rearrange their schedule for anything and everything.
Well said, Meg!
‘The Lion King’ benefited from having been produced using the CAPS suite, so the translation to 3D was much easier than it would have been with ‘The LIttle Mermaid’ and earlier Disney animated films. Those earlier films would be a mess in 3D.
I took my daughter to see the Lion King last weekend (in 3D, as it was only available in my city), there was nothing about seeing it in 3D that improved the movie in any way, it is a classic all on its own. Rule #6, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…
I saw The Lion King 3D last night, (Mon. Sept. 27), as there was no option to see it in 2D anywhere near where I live. I thought the 3D was minimal at best, execpt for the cost it added to the price of movie addmission. It was an Animated movie that was upgraded to 3D, not a live action film. It is probably easier to change an animated movie from 2D to 3D than it is to change a live action film. I agree with Bus Driver; It was a Limited Release, 2 Weeks to either see it at the cinema or see it on home video.
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I dunno, I think it might all be a little more complicated than all that. There’s some unknowable “thing” that drives the movie market. Toy Story is a pretty beloved “creme de la creme” film, and its 3D reissue didn’t do well at all. Yes, it did suck hard (as most 3D reissues inevitably do), but I would’ve thought affection for it would’ve carried more box office than it did. I remember being absolutely transported by The Lion King – the trailer alone was master work – so much so that I’d take my kids to see a re-release in 2D.
Toy Story 3D made $30 million. Even if it cost James Cameron levels to convert, that’s double their money back. At today’s cost, that would be a 1000% return.
The point you make quantifying the success of a 3-Deified re-release based on its conversion costs is the aspect of this trend that annoys me the most. Spend a pittance (by Hollywood standards) to add a few 3D effects, market, release, charge twice what the original ticket cost and watch the money roll in. Applying the sheer profit standard alone, Toy Story’s 3D release can be considered a success. But when you look at the fact that The Lion King 3D has earned as much in one week than Toy Story 3D did in five, plus the fact that The Lion King performs well in foreign markets while Toy Story never did, PLUS the fact that Toy Story is one of the most cutting-edge, beloved animated movies ever, made, you could argue its box office was rather flat. Did it turn a profit? Yes. Did it make me want to see other movies get the same treatment, or have much of a cultural impact? Not really.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I actually never really cared for the Toy Story movies. In my opinion, they never lived up to the masterpieces that were their animated predecessors.
I like these rules. Especially the idea of working with the creative people behind it originally.
I don’t, however, like the idea of a rerelease of Phantom Menace – but that has nothing to do with 3-D.
Also, as a last note, I think something they should consider is that many of these movies would do well in a simple, non-3-D rerelease. They are beloved classics, and people like seeing their favorite films back on the big screen. Simple as that.
Agreed. My friend and I paid to see the Lord of the Rings in theaters during the summer, and no 3D was involved at all (thank God).
Saw the release last week on a wednesday in 3D and the theater was half full – mixed of adults, teens and only a few children. I agree that the 3D did not change the film in anway except for giving it more depth that 2D animated films cannot. Will I spend again for a re-release of a 3D film – doubt it. But Disney should look into re-releasing their animated films in theaters (not in 3D), so those that were not present when the initial release came out can enjoy the films on the big screen again (little mermaid, alladin, beauty and the beast, etc.). They did this for years before the invention of the VCR and DVD, so why not do it again.
Agreed! I would definitely take my daughters to any of the animated classics that Disney re-releases. There is something about the movie experience that that makes the big screen magical. You don’t get that from a DVD at home.
- Lion King is my FAVORITE Disney movie, and I still cry every time I see it! I love, love, love this shot and I love even more that you got to experience the magic along with your kids today. Great shot to beemmrer a wonderful day.
few weeks ago i got to shoot some promo pictures for show hope: the meemovnt club. and their new site is now live. check it out if you have high
I saw Titanic in the theatre and have the dvd. I am excited it will be released in 3D and wil definitely see it. I agree with the rules listed as well.
I’d watch My Big Fat Greed Wedding 3D.
Or Greek. Either way.
me too! I would swoon over John Corbett in 3D anyday!
Dave Hollis is incorrect about re-releases. Before the video and DVD, Disney made it’s bread and butter on re-releases of it’s classics while developing its new animated features once every 4 years. Would a 3-D conversion work on any of those “classics”, doubtful. But if they take a title that hasn’t been seen on the big screen for over 10 years and have made the DVD unavailable for a while, then people will go. 3D will not be their motivation, but opportunity to see a classic with the kids or grandkids in the theatre will be. Expect them to re-release more titles in 3D, right before they put them on blu-ray.