Paramount recently announced that ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’, which had been slated to open June 29, 2012, will not be released this year; instead, it has been moved to premiere in March 2013 so that they can convert the film into 3D. It is single-handedly one of the worst moves a film studio has made since Legendary Pictures converted ‘Clash of the Titans’ (2010) to 3D.

3D is already a polarizing issue in our society. There are three basic camps for the uprising of 3D in the last five to six years: those who like it, those who are indifferent to it, and those who dislike it. The pro-3D people enjoy the extra layer of involvement that 3D, when done properly, adds to a film. When used the right way, 3D gives the illusion of joining the characters in a movie on their adventures. Positive examples of 3D are ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010), Avatar (2009), and Toy Story 3 (2010).

However, 3D also has many downsides. For example, it adds an extra handful of dollars to the already absurdly high ticket prices at the box office. Thus, studios have been misusing the technology in order to gain higher profits rather than concentrating on making the film better. The shift from relying on good storytelling to relying on expensive tickets is a bad sign. Moviegoers know that making money is important to film studios, but blatantly slapping 3D on every film discourages sales.

Furthermore, the recent trend of movies converting to 3D rather than filming with 3D cameras is visually frustrating. Last minute conversions damage the visuals of a film by darkening the colors, distorting the outlines, and muddying the overall quality. The most infamous example is ‘Clash of the Titans.’ Already a mediocre movie, the hasty 3D conversion made it one of the worst cinematic experiences in a long time.

If one could forgive the choice to convert ‘Retaliation’ to 3D, there is still the fact that many fans are angry and disappointed that they cannot enjoy the film this summer. ‘Retaliation’ was no stranger to advertisement. It had trailers in front of most of the summer blockbusters and actually started building buzz in Fall 2011.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has been faithfully tweeting links, interviews, and on-site anecdotes about shooting the film, thus drawing in his own fans as well as those of G.I. Joe. Millions of dollars have already been poured into advertising ‘Retaliation’ and increasing hype since the previous film was a large disappointment. This one even seemed to fix all the problems—removing the annoying Marlon Wayans, downgrading Channing Tatum’s role, turning Cobra back into a legitimate threat, and downplaying the camp factor.

Paramount has demonstrated a startling lack of appreciation for its fans and moviegoers in general. It would be one thing to delay the movie for production problems, fine-tuning the script, or even re-shooting certain scenes, but this move is strictly done for profit. It has already alienated a large portion of the fans and angered the anti-3D movement even further. The quality of a film is based on the hard work of the actors, the writers, and the film crew.

It is not based on how the film is viewed, whether in 2D or 3D. Furthermore, there is no law dictating that every theater in the world will have to show the film in 3D. Most theaters show movies in both 2D and 3D, leaving the option up to viewers, so this decision to stall the movie a year just to convert it to 3D is even more illogical.

Paramount is going to have difficulty putting out fires in the upcoming year. People still want to see ‘Retaliation,’ but their frustration with the studio will have an effect on the profits they seem to be so concerned about.

Image Courtesy of   G.I. Joe

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With Super Bowl XLVI right around the corner, most fans are getting geared up for the game that will pit the New England Patriots against the New York Giants. However, a particularly large number of watchers are more excited for the Super Bowl commercials than the football game. This year’s line-up of commercials hosts a plethora of funny advertisements, not to mention several hard-hitting trailers for spring and summer blockbusters.

Joss Whedon’s ‘The Avengers’ is first on the list as it is quite possibly the most highly anticipated superhero movie of the year, next to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. ‘The Avengers’ combines nearly all of Marvel studios’ superheroes—Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow—into one film to face a dire threat by the likes of Loki and other villains that have yet to be revealed. Marvel released a 17-second peek of the Super Bowl TV spot on Youtube on January 31, and it has already accumulated more than one million views. ‘The Avengers’ is soaring into theaters May 4, 2012.

Not far behind ‘The Avengers’ is Jon M. Chu’s ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’, thanks to a successful Twitter campaign from its new star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The sequel features vast improvements from its lukewarm, semi-faithful predecessor, including Bruce Willis as the titular Joe and a darker tone overall. ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ explodes into theaters June 29, 2012.

Disney throws its magical hat in the ring with ‘John Carter’, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ‘Barsoom’ series about a former Confederate captain transported to Mars right in the middle of an alien conflict. Disney hopes to generate public interest in the film as it approaches its March 9, 2012 release date.

Alongside ‘John Carter’ in the adaptation department is ‘The Hunger Games’, based on the novels by Suzanne Collins. The wildly successful series about a teenage girl and boy in a post-apocalyptic world forced into a televised battle by their oppressive government will be in theaters March 23, 2012.

Sasha Baron Cohen’s next comedy, ‘The Dictator’, a “mockumentary” and parody of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, also heads for a Super Bowl spot, hoping to tickle the funny bones of his fans. Like ‘Borat’ (2006) and ‘Bruno’ (2009), the film promises outrageous interviews, offensive humor, and plenty of jokes to keep its audience happy. ‘The Dictator’ is slated for release May 11, 2012.

Surprisingly, two other superhero titans, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and Sony’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ are staying out of the Super Bowl trailer game. However, there is a large difference between the two films as ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ made a huge splash in 2011 as a trailer in front of Brad Bird’s ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, while ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ has not been seen since San Diego Comic Con 2011 this past July. If Sony wants the public to embrace the Spider-Man reboot by its release date, July 3, 2012, it had better have a stellar marketing plan to compensate for missing one of the most-watched television events of the year.

As the final days count down, fans can eagerly speculate about which trailer will win the coveted title of Most Talked About Trailer once the game is over. Like Super Bowl XLVI itself, the competition will be brutal, merciless, and winner-take-all.

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Paramount Pictures announced it ended 2011 in the No. 1 position among all studios, having achieved the highest total combined gross of any studio for the year, earning a record $5.17 billion worldwide. The studio, which released a total of 16 new releases domestically this year, placed first in the North American market share with $1.96 billion, while also amassing record grosses at the international box office with $3.21 billion.

“This achievement reflects the combined efforts of our entire team across the globe and the careful process by which we select the projects and partners we believe in,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey. “We produce pictures that aspire to entertain audiences around the world, while at the same time we have sought to find innovative ways to reach movie-goers in this changing entertainment environment.

“This year our studio reached some key milestones, including the release of three vibrant Paramount franchise pictures and our first original CGI animated film. Our studio had its first ever $1 billion worldwide grossing film in Michael Bay’s hit ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’; we successfully re-launched our ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with Tom Cruise, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird; our latest installment in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise had another $100 million dollar success; our first original animated film ‘Rango,’ from director Gore Verbinski, earned rave reviews and more than $100 million at the domestic box office; and  we released global phenomenon ‘Super 8,’ directed by JJ Abrams, who will now direct the newest ‘Star Trek’ for 2013. We also benefited from our distribution partnerships with DreamWorks Animation and Marvel and I want to thank them both.”

“Film President Adam Goodman and his team in production and development, and Vice Chairman Rob Moore and his team in marketing and distribution, did outstanding work and truly delivered. As we prepare to celebrate Paramount’s 100th year in 2012, we are all grateful to be part of this wonderful institution as it continues to prosper,” added Grey.

In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include ‘World War Z,’ a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum, a new chapter in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, and ‘The Dictator,’ starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the team behind ‘Borat.’

The 2011 box office results seen from the studio were built on a wide reaching range of titles, including the following (with current domestic grosses): ‘True Grit’ ($85 mil this year, $171.2 million total), Ivan Reitman’s ‘No Strings Attached’ ($70.7 mil), Jon Chu’s ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ ($73 mil), Gore Verbinski’s ‘Rango’  ($123.5 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Thor’ ($181 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ ($165.2 mil), JJ Abrams ‘Super 8’  ($127 mil), Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers:  Dark of the Moon’ ($352.4 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’  ($176.7 mil), Craig Brewer’s ‘Footloose’ ($51.7 mil), the third installment in the hit ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise ($104 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots’ ($145.8 mil), Sundance prize-winner ‘Like Crazy’ ($3.4 mil), Martin Scorsese and GK Films’ ‘Hugo’ ($50.2 mil), Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult’ ($12.8 mil), Brad Bird’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol’ ($142.8 mil) and Steven Spielberg’s ‘Tintin’ ($51.4 mil).

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