Guillermo Del Toro Says Pacific Rim 2 Will Be Shot In 3D
This article is more than 2 years old
The hype surrounding Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim is almost as big as the giant robots and giant monsters it features. Legendary Pictures is already talking about a sequel film, before the movie is even released. But del Toro wants to assure his fans that Pacific Rim 2 would be shot in 3D and not up-converted, “provided, at that point, that the technology is becoming easier and easier,” said the director.
In an interview with the Playlist, Guillermo del Toro spoke about the challenges of making a 3D movie and the confidence he has with the current 3D up-conversion of Pacific Rim. Del Toro says:
Even then they were super respectful. By then we were already getting ILM shots. I was realizing that out of 100 shots, maybe 10% of the shots were risky. They said, ‘If we go 2D on those shots, we can do it.’ Then I gave them my list of conditions. They spent twice of what they normally spend on [this process], because they gave me the chance to pay ILM to do every single shot in native 3D. They aren’t being converted. So all the big 3D effects shots are being done by ILM from the get go.
The Mexican director also talked about the 3D up-conversion work being done on Pacific Rim. Del Toro was initially opposed to making Pacific Rim 3D, but because of the pressure from Warner Bros., he eventually decided to embrace the technology rather than fight against it. Warner Bros. expanded Pacific Rim’s budget and started the 3D up-conversion process. “Normally they give a movie a 14 to 16 week conversion time [for 3D],” says the director. “I started the conversion back in September. So it’s six months for conversion. It’s very classy.”
The same team behind James Cameron’s Titanic 3D up-conversion last April is overseeing the work on Pacific Rim. The results must be great if Guillermo del Toro shifted gears so quickly in the 3D debate.
Pacific Rim will hit theaters everywhere on July 12th in IMAX 3D.
