Dear studios: stop making 3D movies!

Few moviegoing experiences are as discouraging as finding the perfect showtime for one of the year’s most-anticipated movies, only to discover it’s playing in 3D. As someone who spent a decade working at a movie theater, I’ve heard first-hand the gripes from customers about 3D offerings. From murky screens, blurry action, and wallet-draining upcharges on tickets, there are a lot of reasons for customers to lament the 3D experience. Yet, studios keep pushing it, ignoring all evidence of sparsely populated large format 3D screens for almost every film not directed by James Cameron.

And audiences have pulled back the curtain and seen the difference, revealing 3D to be less of an act of wizardry and more of a short con. The latest 3D release is Disney and Pixar’s Elemental, which was filmed in digital 3D, like most of Disney’s animated features. The probable thought process for Disney is the 3D element will draw audiences back to theaters after they’ve become used to watching Pixar movies at home on their televisions thanks to the studio’s Disney+ release strategy.

There’s also the fact the film is tracking for a modest $31–$41 million opening, so Disney is probably banking on 3D as an incentive for people to experience Elemental in the theater, rather than waiting 90 days until it hits Disney+. This bet isn’t much different from what prompted 3D movies in the mid-20th century, only then it was a novelty rather than the norm.

An ophthalmologist helps start a moviegoing craze

By 1950, movie theater attendance had fallen drastically as more American homes had access to television. Milton Gunzburg, a screenwriter for MGM, who believed the method through which he’d shot 3D home movies could be modified for the motion picture industry. Gunzburg, along with his brother Julian, an ophthalmologist, and cinematographer Friend Baker (who had been in the motion picture industry since 1915) developed a process for filming and projecting 3D features by way of dual-strip Polaroid filters. The only problem with Gunzburg’s solution was none of the studios were interested. 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Gunzburg’s former home, MGM, all passed on the new technology. Ultimately it was former radio man and independent film producer Arch Oboler who saw the vision in 3D.

“A LION in your lap! A LOVER in your arms!” That was the promise attached to Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952), the first English, feature-length, and colorized 3D film. Bwana Devil follows three big game hunters tracking down a pair of bloodthirsty lions attacking villagers during the construction of the Uganda Railway. The film was a hit with audiences and afterwards, the very same studios who’d passed on Gunzburg’s innovations were suddenly in the 3D business.

The following year, Columbia released Man In The Dark, Warner Bros. released House Of Wax (which Gunzburg was the 3D supervisor on), Disney joined the fun with Melody, and Universal-International came out with It Came From Outer Space. The rush to get 3D films to the screens resulted in many being projected incorrectly, out of sync, or damaged, which almost killed the 3D craze right as it took off. Yet, thanks to interest from filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Jack Arnold, 3D managed to survive a little longer, with Hitch’s Dial M For Murder (1954), and Arnold’s Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) being the standout examples.

It wouldn’t be until StereoVision, a single-strip format developed by Allan Silliphant and optical designer Chris Condon in 1970 that 3D became technologically viable again. Still, it was a format used for pornos and horror movies, a means for small studios to rake in a lot of cash on cheap productions. Friday The 13th Part 3 (1982), Jaws 3-D (1983), and Amityville 3-D (1983) were popular releases during this brief revival, alongside re-releases of older horror films. For the next couple of decades, 3D was mostly reserved for theme park attractions.

Avatar saves 3D moviegoing … almost

The 21st century brought 3D back to the mainstream once again, with re-releases, concert films, family films, and horror movies being the most consistent options. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) ushered in RealD 3D, which remains the most utilized theatrical 3D technology. It wouldn’t be until later that year that the 3D game was changed completely by James Cameron’s Avatar, a film shot in 3D, rather than converted in post-production.

The difference in quality in terms of the depth of the image, the lighting and in the clarity of its fast-paced action sequences was immediately noticeable. Cameron’s efforts were rewarded by Avatar becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time. Every studio in Hollywood took notice. But filming in 3D as Cameron had done, was expensive.

Studios opted for a cheaper workaround—shooting the film with more traditional cameras and then converting the footage to 3D in post-production—and hoped audiences would be just as thrilled. And they were … for while. Who could forget 2010, when studios rushed to take advantage of the 3D format? We got Alice In Wonderland, Clash Of The Titans, Jackass 3D, The Last Airbender, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, Step Up 3D, Piranha 3D, Saw 3D, Tron: Legacy, and Gulliver’s Travels, just to name a few.

Studios became gluttons for 3D conversions, saturating the market with what were most frequently eyesores, though sometimes delivering worthwhile 3D experiences, like Piranha and Tron: Legacy, that took advantage of the format. Studios failed to understand people were growing tired of the surcharge for poorly projected 3D features, which alienated families keeping a close eye on their wallets, and older moviegoers who didn’t want to wear glasses over their bifocals.

3D releases continued because both exhibitors and studios couldn’t turn down the chance of better box office numbers. The pandemic resulted in a downward trend of 3D releases and when theaters opened again, just going back to the movies was incentive enough to attract audiences. Then two things happened: shortened theatrical release windows, and Avatar: The Way Of Water.

And now the old devil that Oboler let loose has reared its head again as studios try to entice people back to theaters with the spectacle of 3D, once again failing to understand Cameron’s films are a special case and most folks aren’t looking to see Fast X or The Little Mermaid in 3D.

3D certainly has its fans, but how many times has it improved your moviegoing experience? You can probably count the number on one hand. Maybe Elemental will add to that count and be an amazing 3D experience. Still, it feels like studios are failing to read the room.

The 3D conversion business is a waste of resources and theatrical space, Ideally, 3D should be reserved for special screenings and filmmakers who can use it as a tool to sculpt their films. Everyone else needs to focus on other dimensions to make the theatrical experience worthwhile.