Half Blood Prince IMAX To Feature 25 Minutes Of 3D

The IMAX Corporation has announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will feature approximately 25 minutes of 3D footage, split over the opening sequence and the film's climax. Potter fans will remember that the 17-minute finale of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was also presented in IMAX 3D. I never got the chance to see the Phoenix finale in 3D, and didn't hear a big buzz about it from fans.

A lot of fans had an adverse reaction to the 3D presentation in Superman Returns, which was a post up-conversion process. It's my understanding that the Potter footage uses the same conversion process (ie it wasn't shot using 3D cameras). I'm not totally against the idea of post processed 3D, but it leaves me with the icky feeling of seeing a black and white movie which has been unconverted to color.

I'm one of the few people that doesn't think that 3D will be a fad in the long run (and I'm talking non-gimmicky 3D). Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was a game changer in terms of presentation. And most consumers I talk to look at the IMAX up-conversion to be pure gimmick. I guess, at least by offering 25 minutes of 3D gives moviegoers more bang for their $15 an IMAX Ticket buck.

Discuss: Do you like digitally unconverted 3D?

via: ComingSoon