CES 2010: Sony's First 3D Blu-ray Title Announced

Samsung and Technicolor may have got there first, but Sony aren't far behind with their announcement of the first 3D Blu-ray movie to accompany their own range of products.  Working with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, the recent animated movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be their initial release to coincide with the hardware releases sometime during the summer.

Sony's press release is brief and doesn't give much away, however there are some interesting words and phrases used.  The first is that SPHE will 'begin releasing 3D content on Blu-ray worldwide in 2010', from which we can assume the 3D rollout is likely not to be drastically staggered territory by territory, at least not by much, but rather more quickly instead.  The second is that we can expect far more information on the films that are going to be available at launch during the spring.

You'll notice that the two titles revealed are both animated tales aimed primarily at younger viewers, obviously because that's the genre which 3D dominates in theaters.  Although this isn't a problem there, it's a problem for the home market as the 10-15 year-old segment isn't going to be digging deep for all this new equipment.  It's not like Blu-ray's first few months, where high interest, big name titles such as Casino Royale were on hand to attract new buyers; there simply isn't the 3D content to push at the moment.  Obviously Avatar will be the first major release, but in terms of non-animated fare, what else is there?  My Bloody Valentine?  Final Destination 4?  We can't see many people getting over excited about those two.

Comments

[Conan]

what else is there? umm your forgetting that 3d films have been around for as long as the moving image itself, titles that will make me run out and buy this new system are all pre 90s movies. friday the 13th 3D will be the killer title that will drive the market, porn will be a major player in this new tec just as it was with vhs, the internet, dvd and BD

and 3d tv has been around since the early 80s and was big in japan, just search for VHD

[Andy Boxall]

I'm not forgetting any of the existing 3D material, it's just not relevant to today's market.

I appreciate that Friday the 13th Pt. III 3D may encourage you to spend $2000+ on a 3D setup for your home, but I'm not convinced it would for many other people. For 3D to take off, it needs mass appeal content, and anything pre-70s or genre-based, rightly or wrongly, doesn't really have that - and neither does porn.

I may be keen to see Dial M for Murder or Flesh for Frankenstein in 3D at home, but I'm not going to change my whole home cinema just for the pleasure!

Can you really see any of these titles pushing sales if they were offered for free instead of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?