3-D Future Looks Fuzzy

Aug. 6, 2010— -- 3-D.

It is practically the hottest thing in film since the "Talkies." But could this be the final chapter for three-dimensional movies? And so soon?

The hot hype is beginning to cool for such 3-D flicks as "Shrek: Forever After," "Avatar" and "How to Train Your Dragon." While hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the technology, some important filmmakers lack interest in multiple dimensions.

Director Jon Favreau made that clear during a preview of his film "Cowboy's and Aliens" when he told a cheering crowd, "So coming next year, 2-D, 'Cowboys and Aliens.' Take the money you save and see it twice."

The money is part of the problem. Facing ticket prices topping $20, many moviegoers are just as happy with watching the standard and cheaper 2-D films they have always watched.

Moreover, it's becoming downright cool to dislike 3-D, one movie critic told the Christian Science Monitor.

That may be so but one new production is embracing the technology. It is the latest version of "Step Up," the dance flick. It's being promoted as "the first dance movie in 3-D." Indeed, the trailer proudly boasts, "Shot entirely in 3-D."

And don't tell the makers of cameras and smart phones that 3-D is on the way out, either.

Sharp, for example, announced this week that it is developing a glasses-free, 3-D smart phone with an autostereoscopic screen for release by the end of the year.