While his position in Hollywood’s A-list is unlikely to change, four of Ridley Scott’s last five movies have all underperformed financially to varying degrees, with “American Gangster” the only flat-out hit (although “Robin Hood” is something of a smash internationally, to be fair). It’s unlikely to worry the director too much, however — his production company Scott Free is behind the likes of TV hit “The Good Wife” and the upcoming “The A-Team,” while RSA Films, his promo company, is one of the major players in the commercials field.
And now, he’s stepping forward into the brave new world of 3D; according to Vulture, he’s in talks to form Scott Three Productions, a partnership with the company Symphony 3D, who are behind the glasses/projection system MasterImage 3D. Scott appears to be hoping that the company can challenge market leaders RealD, who dominate the field at present.
One assumes that Scott’s next film, a 3D prequel (or possibly even two) to “Alien,” would be released in the MasterImage 3D format; Scott’s been enthusiastic about dimensionalization, and clearly sees it as a cash cow. Vulture speculates that Scott may also convert some of his earlier films into 3D, although the director has previously ruled that out.
If nothing else, it seems like a smart business decision on Scott’s part. Yes, we’ve made our feeling on 3D pretty clear over the past six months, but that’s ultimately all it seems to come down to — a business decision to whack up ticket prices, rather than any genuine artistic desire for the format. But having said that, we’re going to see the likes of Scott, Spielberg, Soderbergh and Scorsese all shooting in three dimensions in the next few years, so maybe we’ll be converts before too long.
In the meantime, you can check out our retrospective on Scott’s career, which you may have missed during our exile.