3-D stereoscopic couldn't save Fly Me to the Moon from its disappointing box-office take. © 2008 nWave Pictures nv.

It's a good sign because even though the movie was bad, it made a lot of money. Domestic box office gross is almost $100 million and worldwide is over $150 million (IMDbPro.com). Plus, it did this with a limited number of digital stereoscopic projection screens. Even with such terrible reviews and word of mouth, people kept going to see it. Journey attained blockbuster status due largely to the new stereoscopic technology.

3-D stereoscopic alone is not enough, as is evidenced by the disastrous box-office take of Fly Me to the Moon. Every movie needs good design and an exciting trailer. Journey was a terrible movie, but at least the trailer looked interesting (an obvious case of false advertising). Fly Me had a boring trailer, lame design and poor animation. Even the draw of being stereoscopic was not enough to overcome such large obstacles, as it has barely made $10 million domestically.

3-D stereoscopic has been championed by some of our best filmmakers, including James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis and Jeffrey Katzenberg. They are pushing the technology and they are pushing great storytelling, the perfect combination.

Facial Expressions: Babies to Teens by Mark Simon.

If a waste of celluloid like Journey can become a box office blockbuster, truly good stereoscopic movies will have incredible success. Since we have such great, large, hi-definition TVs in our homes, going to movies has to be more of an event, something we can't see at home. Stereoscopic movies and stale popcorn make going to the movies an event again. Even with the current economic problems, people want to be entertained.

With Cameron's Avatar and DreamWork's Monsters vs. Aliens coming out in 2009, there is a lot more good news in the near future for the movie industry. And the movie industry will be in your face about it... literally.

Artists and Politics
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Mark Simon is an award-winning animation producer/director and speaker. Mark has released two new editions of Facial Expressions, his popular photo reference books for artists Babies to Teens and the Companion E-Book, Volume 3. He may be reached at marksimonbooks@yahoo.com.