Pre-production on Tarsem’s “Caravaggio meets ‘Fight Club'” epic “Dawn Of War” has been halted as producers for the film are contemplating whether or not to shoot the film in 3D. Already budgeted at $115 million, if they do decide to make cinema-goers wear those glasses, it will add another $15 million to the bottom line. Tarsem is already deep into pre-production stages, having set up offices at La Cité du Cinéma in Montreal back in the late fall, and filming was set to begin this month. If it’s decided the film will go the 3D route, there’s no word yet on what kind of delays this might cause, but we would imagine several scenes and sequences will have to go back to the drawing board.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be mentioned that “Avatar”‘s box office success is fueling this last minute retooling. That said, as much as we’re chagrined that every tentpole is now being eyed for 3D, at the very least, the producers are making this decision before filming starts rather than after (*ahem”Clash Of The Titans”*ahem*). And regardless of what you think of his films, Tarsem is not one to settle for anything conventional visually, so the idea of the director going 3D is somewhat exciting.
There is no word yet if the production schedule will be bumped while the producers of “Dawn Of War” consider their options. Henry Cavill is still attached in the lead, and we don’t imagine that will change unless scheduling changes considerably. This ancient epic adventure set in ancient Greece will apparently have a “contemporary feel” according to Tarsem, which could really mean anything at this point.