U2 to be 3D on
the big screen
By Elaine Sheridan
U2’s Vertigo world tour may soon create a real sense of vertigo
among moviegoers as the Irish rockers are planning to release their first
3D concert film next year.
The untitled feature, being readied for a summer or autumn release, will
draw from more than 700 hours of footage shot during the trek’s
South American leg in February and March. In conjunction with its release
U2 could take part in the first live 3D performance projected in theatres
nationwide.
The film was directed by Mark Pellington (Arlington Road), who began
his career by shooting U2’s seminal One video, and Catherine Owens,
a creative director on several U2 world tours. A representative for the
band called it ‘the first-ever 3D multicamera live shoot.’
Editing is under way in New York. Discussions are under way with several
major studio distributors. 3ality Digital Entertainment, the project’s
producer, put together one of the largest assemblages of 3D camera technology
ever used for a single project. It is expected that the film will screen
nationwide using the Real D technology put in place by theatres that are
showing the current digital 3D release of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare
Before Christmas. Real D unveiled the first theatrically projected live
3D event last week at the ShowEast convention of movie theatre owners
in Orlando, Florida. It is planning a live 3D concert presentation next
autumn, and sources said it might be a U2 concert.
Meanwhile, the band have arrived in Australia to complete the postponed
leg of their Vertigo tour. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
Jr flew into Sydney from their Dublin base before heading to Australia’s
Gold Coast via private jet to prepare for the tour. The band’s legion
of Australian fans have been holding their tour tickets since March, when
U2 suddenly postponed the concerts to allow The Edge to be with his family
as a relative battled a serious illness. The band’s tour kicks off
in Brisbane. |
