Disney revealed a handful of 3D feature films slated for release in 2011, with the most notable being Cars 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. All told, Disney plans to release five 3D movies in 2011, which bodes well not only for theater goers but for home viewers on the lookout for the 3D Blu-ray releases of these new Disney films.
Disney’s 3D film lineup for 2011 starts in February with Gnomeo & Juliet, a computer-generated film set to Elton John songs. For the record, it’s not likely that we’ll hear Circle of Life. There’s already a pretty big Disney film with that song in it.
One month later, on March 11, Disney will release Mars Needs Moms in 3D, a film starring (the voices of) Seth Green and Joan Cusack as they stow away on the spaceship and confront an alien leader.
Disney’s summer lineup will be jump-started by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Disney will celebrate appropriately by releasing it in full 3D. It’s unclear whether Pirates 4 was filmed natively in 3D — as about 60% of Transformers 3 was — but the 3D effects should still be solid when the film releases on May 20.
Shortly thereafter, Cars 2 will hit theaters with a full 3D presentation of Lightning McQueen, Mater and the rest of the gang on June 24. But after Cars 2, Disney will take a bit of a break from 3D films, not releasing another until Aug. 19, when Dreamworks releases Fright Night in 3D with Colin Farrell playing a vampire.
It’s a safe bet that these films will all release next holiday with 3D Blu-ray counterparts, which bodes well for the technology as consumers debate whether to update their home-entertainment setups in all those Black Friday 2011 electronics sales. But that’s still a long way off, and plans may change. Who knows…Disney may decide to release both Cars movies and all four Pirates films in 3D Blu-ray to celebrate. We’ll just have to wait and see.
