“3D Could Become as Normal as Colour” – Paul Verhoeven

Oct 11, 2011 5 Comments by Jonathan Tustain

In an exclusive interview with 3D Focus TV during MIPCOM, legendary director Paul Verhoeven shares his feelings about 3D movie making whilst promoting his big interactive project – the Entertainment Experience.

Paul Verhoeven 3D Could Become as Normal as Colour Paul Verhoeven

The director of hit movies such as Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers and Basic Instinct is optimistic about the future of 3D movies claiming, if done right, it could become as normal as colour. When asked whether he would like to see any part of his movie portfolio converted to 3D, he said that all sci-fi movies could potentially work as conversions…

“I think all science fiction could be converted because there are so many visuals and it is so much about the spectacle that you can do that. Science fiction is about worlds you don’t know and worlds you can create like in Avatar.” Verhoeven said.

However, he pointed out that he believes filming in native 3D is the best way to going forward …

Praising Cameron he said “I have seen several [converted] movies and it’s not as good. Cameron did the right thing – he did it from the beginning, really difficult, he had to solve a lot of problems and he did it as it had to be done.”

He warned against pushing 3D to the extreme and suggested 3D could be used in a less obvious way …

“You have to be careful that you are not pushing the 3D extravagantly when it’s a normal drama. There is another way of looking at it but it has not been done yet so much. People have been so busy surprising the public with their 3D possibilities but there might be a way to do 3D in a very un-obvious simple way”.

Verhoeven continued… “I have a feeling that if we do it in the right way that at a certain moment it could be as normal as colour.”

He was not sure whether his 1987 smash sci-fi classic Robocop would have benefited from being filmed in 3D but said that if we were to shoot Starship Troopers now, he would probably produce it in 3D, claiming that, due to the film’s story, 3D would have made the film “more dynamic” and “provided a greater sense of threat”.

When asked whether he would embrace the challenge of director his next feature in 3D he said it would depend on the project and that he has been working with Prince of Persia game creator Jordan Mechner who wrote another game titled The Last Express, set in 1914 on the Orient Express. Mechner contacted Verhoeven to say that there was an enormous interest in the script due to its 3D possibilities.

It seems that, after the Entertainment Experience is completed (May 2012), Paul Verhoeven may be returning to “old fashioned” filmmaking (as he described it) and, an adaptation of The Last Express could be his next feature, the first since 2006, having confirmed his next project will be a movie set in 1914 based on a video game in an interview with MTV earlier this year.

However, despite the interest in a 3D version of The Last Express, Paul Verhoven concluded the 3D Focus TV interview saying his next movie project is likely to be filmed in 2D.

Two of Paul Verhoven’s iconic sci-fi movies – Robocop and Total Recall are being remade. The remake of Robocop was originally intended to be filmed in 3D causing originally chosen director Darren Aronofsky to leave the project claiming 3D was a gimmick. The remake of Robocop is likely to be released sometime in 2013. The remake of Total Recall finished production in September of this year with a release date of August 2012 expected. Shot in 2D, it remains to be seen whether Total Recall will be converted to 3D at a later stage.

A full 3D video feature about Paul Verhoeven’s mega project – The Entertainment Experience, is coming to 3DFocus.co.uk soon but in the meantime you can find out more here.(In Dutch)

FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW

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