What's the latest on Thriller 3D?

nextbigthing56

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Does anybody know if plans are still in the works for a worldwide theatre and possibly DVD/Blu Ray release of Thriller 3D this year? We are almost 3/4 of the way through the year, surely there is to be some type of announcement soon if this is still in the works?
 
I don't think they really care anymore to release it. If anything if there was an announcement about future releases it'll happen during Michael's birthday celebration coming up.
 
Yeah, I don't see Thriller 3D happening unless it's in October (Halloween) the Estate did say that they want to do more for MJ on Halloween every year.
 
Someone has to care to release it to some extent.. It costed money to make it, they have to get that money back - and playing it at a venue would not cut it.. Financially it would be shooting themselves in the foot not to have a larger release in some type of way.
 
This. They also said something that they want to make Ghosts 3D too if I remember right.

They talked about releasing Thriller OR Ghosts. Oddly.

I'd be fairly gobsmacked if Thriller 3D gets any kind of wide theatrical exhibition this year.
 
Maybe they will release it for Halloween 2018 in VHS or if we are lucky in DVD too.

Yeah, don't expect too much from the Estates.
 
I think they wait for the opportunity ot add it to a big cinema-film-release about Halloween-time. Last year they did not have it.
When they get it this year then they will do it, when not then there are still waiting.
 
Yes they will release it, but when is the question. I expected it last year when they were doing the MJ halloween takeover but they didn't. If they want to carry on the MJ takeover then they need to release it this year, ideally with some other MJ halloween content. Sadly though the MJ cartoon and Scream album hardly made a dent in the public consciousness so they may have dropped the takeover idea completely. I still think they'll release this at some point though. As KOPV said, it cost money to produce so they need to release to make a proft or at least earn some of the cost back.

On its own it's not a viable release so I think they'll try playing it with a feature film, similar to how they attached 'Ghosts' to a movie ('Powder'?) back in the day. They can't really sell it direct to TV networks because not many broadcast 3D these days as far as I know, so it's got to be theatrical, where 3D is dying but not quite dead yet.
 
Yes they will release it, but when is the question. I expected it last year when they were doing the MJ halloween takeover but they didn't. If they want to carry on the MJ takeover then they need to release it this year, ideally with some other MJ halloween content. Sadly though the MJ cartoon and Scream album hardly made a dent in the public consciousness so they may have dropped the takeover idea completely. I still think they'll release this at some point though. As KOPV said, it cost money to produce so they need to release to make a proft or at least earn some of the cost back.

On its own it's not a viable release so I think they'll try playing it with a feature film, similar to how they attached 'Ghosts' to a movie ('Powder'?) back in the day. They can't really sell it direct to TV networks because not many broadcast 3D these days as far as I know, so it's got to be theatrical, where 3D is dying but not quite dead yet.

I go to the movies a LOT. And besides the shorts that sometimes precede an animated feature, I never see anything tacked on at the beginning of a film. I really don't see this happening either, at least not on a wide scale.
 
More seriously it will be Thriller's music video 35th anniversary at the end of the year and the 4K master is ready. I don't think they will miss the opportunity to release it.
 
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Would be so awesome if they got this pushed to Netflix after release.. they did too with This Is It, so I`d love to see it in 4K in my own home cinema with beautiful surround \0/
 
I go to the movies a LOT. And besides the shorts that sometimes precede an animated feature, I never see anything tacked on at the beginning of a film. I really don't see this happening either, at least not on a wide scale.

I know it doesn't happen often these days but it was quite popular several decades ago. Even when they did it with Ghosts it was unusual. I don't see much other option to capitalise on a 14minute long video. It can't be released on its own.
I guess it could be packaged with the 'making of' but I don't see that being a draw for the general public at the cinema and so it wouldn't receive a wide release. That dual-film package might just about work as a BluRay release but I don't see that happening without something bigger happening first.

More seriously it will be Thriller's music video 35th anniversary at the end of the year and the 4K master is ready. I don't think they will miss the opportunity to release it.

Yes I hadn't thought of this, so on that basis, my bet is something will happen this year. I just don't know what, but maybe the Estate will announce something in the next couple of months.
 
Release it as a 3D Blu-Ray alongside Ghosts and the Making of Thriller.
 
Then why was it specified, by Sony, to be a 3D release? And you get stuff from 3D that you don't get from the new modern stuff.



I understand where IMWhizzle is coming from.

3D at home is definitely dead and has been for a few years. 3D Tvs are now a thing of the past. You mention Sony specifying it as a 3D release, but we don't know who wanted this 3D release. Probably it was the MJ Estate, not Sony. Sony themselves stopped manufacturing 3D TVs at the beginning of 2017, as did LG. In fact they were the last major manufacturers to stop doing so. Samsung stopped making them in 2016! TV Channels broadcast in 3D are also in the past. In the USA the major channels stopped being broadcast in 3D in 2012/2013. In the UK Sky stopped a few years ago.

It's slightly better in the cinema where some films are still being release in 3D and 3D tickets are priced at a premium, but it's not much better. Cinema 3D is dying too. The number of movies filmed in 3D has reduced greatly in the last few years, and so has the market share for 3D tickets sales. Most '3D' films, including those from Sony, are now actually being filmed in 2D and being converted to 3D in post-production. 3D is an after thought now. When films are shown to the press these days they show the 2D version, not the 3D version. I'm sure that will for James Cameron next Avatar film, but I don't see a resurgence for 3D coming off the back of those films.

As for Thriller 3D, well it has come years too late. I'm not saying the MJ Estate should have released it when Avatar kicked off the latest 3D 'revolution' in 2009/2010 but they should have definitely released it before 3D started its decline in 2012/2013 for maximum impact. When it was announced last year, sure it was news worthy but I guarantee most people just thought "so what?". The MJ fans will love it of course, and if I can find a cinema showing it in 3D I will go. But the majority in the general public simply don't care about 3D now. As IMWhizzle said, it's all about UHD/4K these days and luckily I'm sure The MJ Estate covered that base too. After all, while rescanning the original film, converting to 3D etc, why wouldn't they create a UHD version???
 
I understand where IMWhizzle is coming from.

3D at home is definitely dead and has been for a few years. 3D Tvs are now a thing of the past. You mention Sony specifying it as a 3D release, but we don't know who wanted this 3D release. Probably it was the MJ Estate, not Sony. Sony themselves stopped manufacturing 3D TVs at the beginning of 2017, as did LG. In fact they were the last major manufacturers to stop doing so. Samsung stopped making them in 2016! TV Channels broadcast in 3D are also in the past. In the USA the major channels stopped being broadcast in 3D in 2012/2013. In the UK Sky stopped a few years ago.

It's slightly better in the cinema where some films are still being release in 3D and 3D tickets are priced at a premium, but it's not much better. Cinema 3D is dying too. The number of movies filmed in 3D has reduced greatly in the last few years, and so has the market share for 3D tickets sales. Most '3D' films, including those from Sony, are now actually being filmed in 2D and being converted to 3D in post-production. 3D is an after thought now. When films are shown to the press these days they show the 2D version, not the 3D version. I'm sure that will for James Cameron next Avatar film, but I don't see a resurgence for 3D coming off the back of those films.

As for Thriller 3D, well it has come years too late. I'm not saying the MJ Estate should have released it when Avatar kicked off the latest 3D 'revolution' in 2009/2010 but they should have definitely released it before 3D started its decline in 2012/2013 for maximum impact. When it was announced last year, sure it was news worthy but I guarantee most people just thought "so what?". The MJ fans will love it of course, and if I can find a cinema showing it in 3D I will go. But the majority in the general public simply don't care about 3D now. As IMWhizzle said, it's all about UHD/4K these days and luckily I'm sure The MJ Estate covered that base too. After all, while rescanning the original film, converting to 3D etc, why wouldn't they create a UHD version???

That's a well-detailed response, and it contained a lot of information I was unaware of.

While I do see your point, the Estate needs to give the fans what they want. Scream, while a nice collection, was a waste of money. And this year, we're getting new picture vinyls, which, while cool (and something that I think is necessary, especially for HIStory and Invincible), is not new music. New music is what the fans really want, or new concerts released on DVD/BluRay.

At this point, Sony is continuing what they did during the last few years of Michael's life, which was to squeeze out as many collections of the same material as possible, and to get fans to rebuy the same songs over and over again. I hated it then, and I hate it even more now. At this point, if you don't own 20 copies of Billie Jean...fans don't need the same songs over and over again. Give us something new. Thriller 3D, or something else.
 
I know it doesn't happen often these days but it was quite popular several decades ago. Even when they did it with Ghosts it was unusual. I don't see much other option to capitalise on a 14minute long video. It can't be released on its own.
I guess it could be packaged with the 'making of' but I don't see that being a draw for the general public at the cinema and so it wouldn't receive a wide release. That dual-film package might just about work as a BluRay release but I don't see that happening without something bigger happening first.

The problem is the making of is very short as well, and is padded out with Beat It, Can You Feel It etc. I'm sure the runtime of the making of with Thriller is 59 minutes? Who's going to pay adult admission to a cinema for something so short? The trailers and ads preceding it would probably run longer haha.

And the Ghosts thing was only done in the US, and only selected theatres I think.
 
3D is dead.

4K HDR is current.

I just bought 4 new just-released 3D Blu-Ray discs over the past two weeks. But I've been hearing "3D is dead" ever since the 3D craze started 8 years ago...so it doesn't really mean anything. It is a shame that they haven't been putting the feature in TVs for the past few years though but hopefully they'll change their mind and start again.

Regarding Thriller, I think putting the 3D version and the Making Of on a Blu-Ray disc would make for a nice $20 release. Hopefully we'll get something this year.
 
To those that say 3D is dead.

People said vinyl records were dead. All the stores are removing CDs, and putting vinyl records in their place, and young people are actually buying them.
 
3D is definitely dead hahha. All the TV manufacturers have stopped making 3D tvs and 3D movies are just a way to increase ticket prices. The majority of the films I have went to see in 3D have been disappointing.
 
Who cares about 3D anymore? If Thriller 3D is the only thing that gets released in 2018, I’ll be extremely disappointed. But I suspect it won’t happen thankfully, as there is hardly any demand for it.
 
Personally, i don't care AT ALL about the 3D (at least for the home experience). I just want to see Thriller in a fresh 4K restoration.
 
MJ Beats reckons Thriller 3D will go with Goosebumps 2 this Halloween.

Which made me think, that can't happen in the UK...Goosebumps 2 will probably receive a PG certificate whilst Thriller passed uncut remains a 15 in the UK. However this is no longer the case. It would appear that Thriller was submitted to the BBFC for reclassification this year and it has a new certificate! Thriller has been a 15 since 1983 in the UK and even when submitted for reclassification in 2006 it retained that status. As of 22/05/18 it now has a 12 certificate in the UK and the BBFC record for it indicates both a cinema and home release format.

What I'm not clear on is why it hasn't been given a 12A certificate as the 12 certificate is purely for the home market these days. But what is clear is that Sony/Estate have submitted clearly with the intention of releasing it to the UK market again...in some form at least!
 
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