Monsters vs.
Aliens
DreamWorks Animation is moving the 2009 release date for its 3-D
feature "Monsters vs. Aliens" to March 27 from May 15, in order to
avoid a showdown with James Cameron's "Avatar," studio CEO Jeffrey
Katzenberg said Wednesday.
The big-budget, effects-heavy opus "Avatar," Cameron's first
feature since "Titanic," is due to arrive on May 22 via 20th
Century Fox.
Had "Monsters" stuck to its proposed May release, "I saw more
and more problems splitting the market for 3-D right at the time
when it will be becoming the most exciting thing in movie-going,"
Katzenberg said at the Goldman Sachs media conference in New
York.
Katzenberg, who said he has spent the past few weeks studying
the developing 3-D exhibition scene, predicted that there would be
5,000-8,000 3-D screens available domestically by the time
"Monsters" rolls out in 2009. While a 2-D version of the film will
also play in smaller markets, the majority of its U.S. dates will
utilize the new 3-D technologies.
With its new release date, "Monsters," directed by Rob Letterman
and Conrad Vernon, will have an eight-week window in the 3-D
corridor before "Avatar" arrives.
(Agencies via CRI.cn September 20, 2007)
