Many moviegoers in China complained that watching the 3-D screening of “Jason Bourne,” the action-movie sequel starring Matt Damon, made them feel dizzy. The furor grew after the thriller’s debut in China last Tuesday, and led to calls for a boycott of the film’s 3-D format.
3-D films have largely been embraced in China, with audiences wowed by the fantasy film “Avatar” in 2010, and the 3-D release of the tearjerker “Titanic”(1997) in 2012, which was the highest-grossing foreign film in the country that year.
To cash in on the demand, nearly 90% of China’s movie screens have been equipped with 3-D technology, according to official data. More local filmmakers are opting to produce 3-D films, with tickets sold for more money than those of 2-D films. The number of domestic 3-D productions was up from 21 in 2013 to 41 titles last year, according to the China Film Association.
The latest installment of the Bourne franchise is mostly shown in 2-D, outside some select markets, by Universal Pictures. These markets, including China, are given the 3-D version.
Many online complained it was difficult to find the 2-D option in local theaters. Maoyan.com, a leading movie ticketing app, promoted 2-D screenings of the film for ticket buyers on its front page banner.
The film is shot using the signature hand-held camera technique of director Paul Greengrass, and shaky images during the action scenes have not been deemed 3-D friendly by some viewers.
The China branch of Universal Pictures said in a statement released online last week that it “understands and respects audiences’ needs,” and would provide more 2-D screenings of the film.
Hollywood mostly provides 3-D movies for Chinese audiences, and sometimes convert a film into 3-D specifically for the China market, as with the two sci-fi thrillers, “Transcendence” (2014) featuring Johnny Depp and Luc Besson’s “Lucy” featuring Scarlett Johansson. China was the biggest money-maker among overseas territories for both films.
However, these 3-D offerings have increasingly been bashed by local moviegoers in recent years. “I cannot think of a more lofty reason except cheating and robbing for money for so many China-exclusive 3-D films and the local crappy 3-D conversions,” said Mu Weier, a veteran Chinese film critic, on his verified Weibo account. Weibo is a social media platform in China that works a bit like Twitter.
Experts say that this sequel drew a fierce backlash because the local audiences hold higher expectations for Hollywood films. “They thought the visual effects of American movies should be better than this,” said Liu Haodong, former director of the industry research center at the state-backed China Film Association.
Some people in the industry say the 3-D format helps prevent people bootlegging films from theaters.
Others frown upon this defense. “Of course we need to firmly oppose and crack down on piracy,” said Zhang Xiaobei, a prominent screenwriter and film critic, on Weibo. “But antipiracy does not mean audiences should take the bullet for the capitalists by giving up their own health and comfort.”
It appears that the episode might actually be a revenue boost for the studio, with some online users saying they would go to watch the film again as more 2-D screenings become available.
The sequel has grossed about $50 million so far in China, taking it to the top of the foreign box-office chart for the past weekend.
Source: Wall Street Journal