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Baz Luhrmann considers shooting The Great Gatsby in 3D

Australian director Baz Luhrmann says he is considering shooting The Great Gatsby in 3D.

The comments were reportedly made after a panel discussion, which also featured filmmakers Oliver Stone and Michael Mann, on the benefits of Blu-ray DVD at the recent CES conference in Los Angeles.

The big budget Great Gatsby, an adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel set in the 1920s, is not yet green-lit by Columbia Pictures but is understood to be close.

The production is likely to be filmed in Australia to take advantage of the 40 per cent Producer Offset although Luhrmann's original preference was to shoot in New York, according to a source.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan are attached to star in the film.

Luhrmann told Forbes after the CES panel that he had "workshopped" Gatsby in 3D and would decide on the format soon. He also said he wasn't surprised that skepticism remained about the widespread adoption of 3D, noting that people thought audiences would not want to see actors speaking before sound was introduced with The Jazz Singer in 1927.

Luhrmann, Stone and Mann also noted that there was a precedent to film a drama in 3D – Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder used the format way back in 1954.

In Australia, a number of films have already adopted 3D. The $30 million cave thriller Sanctum is released on February 3 while shark film Bait is currently in post-production. Both of George Miller's current productions, Happy Feet 2 and the next instalment in the Mad Max series, Fury Road, are both being released in 3D.

The CES panel discussion on Blu-ray can be seen below (although it does not include the discussion on 3D).

  1. This is very upsetting. Happy Feet 2 is one thing but the Great Gatsby? Fitzgerald would weep. If he knew what 3D was.

  2. It’s an iconic film and I’m not keen on the 3D idea, principally because it tends to become the focus, rather than the story. I think Baz needs to be wary of going ‘arty farty’ because it seems like a good idea. Did he learn nothing from ‘Australia’?

  3. If 3D is used sensibly then it can add to the experience of watching a good film. It’s an extra set of tools for the cinematographer – like depth of field, lighting, colour and choice of lens.

    No reason why 3D couldn’t become as normal and natural as stereo sound (2 channels, then 4, then 5.1 now 7.1!)

    But 3D won’t make a bad film good, and that tends to be the way it’s been used up to now. (In general, there are exceptions of course!)

  4. This would be the single worst career move Lurhmann could ever make. 3D technology has no future and is a gimmicky addition to the industry which distracts the viewer from the true beauty of film created by a camera and a vision. Stick to the basics Baz.

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