This is interesting, though for anyone who has followed the career of Francis Ford Coppola, not particularly surprising. Granted, there aren’t any direct quotes or confirmation on this one so leave it as a bit speculation for now, but the intro to an interview the director did with 99% (via Bleeding Cool) we’re given this little nugget about his upcoming film “Twixt Now And Sunrise“: “The film even features the latest 3-D technology – but as a brief dramatic segment that serves the story, rather than the typical two-hour, multiplex gimmick.”
While the idea of just a portion of a film being in 3D instead of the whole damn thing seems to be a bit counter-intuitive to immersing yourself into the world a movie, it’s actually something that Coppola has been thinking about for a long time. During an interview this past summer, the director revealed that he’s long been a fan of the format and had even planned 3D sequences for his scuttled productions of “Pinocchio” and his sci-fi epic “Megalopolis” saying, “I had worked on ‘Pinocchio’ for a while and the intention was sections were to be in 3D. Even ‘Megalopolis’ had a whole act in 3D. The idea was that the film told the audience when to put the glasses on.”
With 3D becoming more and more accepted by auteurs like Martin Scorsese (“Hugo Cabret“), David Fincher (who plans to shoot “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” in the format) and Steven Soderbergh (who originally wanted to shoot “Contagion” in the format but was foiled by the cameras not being ready in time for the production) and given the some of the dazzling visual sequences in “Tetro” and “Youth Without Youth,” it’s hardly shocking that Coppola is once again toying with the possibilities of 3D.
At any rate, the project, a gothic horror tale said to have “the imagery of Hawthorne or Poe” seems like an intriguing fit for 3D and certainly something a bit different than things blowing up or flying at your face, and his intention to make it narrative tool more than a special effect, we’re curious as to what it might look like. And given he’s been planning for a 3D sequence within a 2D film for a while, we’re sure his approach will be interesting (though whether it’s smooth remains to be seen).
“Twixt Now And Sunrise” stars Elle Fanning, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin, Don Novello, David Paymer and Alden Erenreich and has recently wrapped filming. No word yet on distributors or a release date, but we fully expect it to crop up on the festival circuit this year.