Are you ready for 'Transformers 3D?'

In this post-'Avatar' filmworld, many of Hollywood's studio executives are urgently seeking the next big hit in 3D. With the upcoming 'Alice in Wonderland,' a quickly revamped 'Clash of the Titans' and the next 'Harry Potter' all hoping to court blockbuster status, the box office seduction of the format is hard to resist.  Just ask Michael Bay, who may have to give into the 'gimmick' for 'Transformers 3.'   

Despite being the top-grossing film of 2009, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' received a critical drubbing from both the media and its important fan base that may have impacted the franchise's future.  With a third installment now in the works, the pressure is building for director Michael Bay to deliver an improved model. In this post-"Avatar" landscape, will Bay embrace 3D as a way to appease both Paramount Pictures and fans?

Total Film is reporting that the director was "adamant that the 3D 'gimmick' wasn't for him." With "Avatar" rewriting box office history, all the major studios are looking to exploit the format futher. It should come as no surprise that Bay is now in talks with Paramount and Industrial Light & Magic "about going 3D” with the third "Transformers" feature.

“The way I shoot is too aggressive for 3D cameras," Bay is quoted as saying in the Total Film article. "It’s a time consuming thing. Who knows…It might be a fad. I’m kinda old school. I’m old school because I like to shoot on film. I like anamorphic lenses, and that is old school.”

Old school or not, Variety is reporting the “big stumbling block is the extra time required to do production and visual effects in 3D, as the movie’s release date is already set.”

Will Bay make the switch to the format of the box office gods? Chances are he may not have much of a choice than to enroll in a whole new school of filmmaking.

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