'Prometheus' - shot in 3D, using Red EPIC cameras

Over the last month, the marketing team at Fox have been slowly unveiling more and more news about Ridley Scott's upcoming 3D film, Prometheus. Given the film's shot in native 3D, we here at 3Defence are getting pretty excited about its release (and it seems many others are too; it's already breaking box-office records for IMAX pre-sales in the UK). So, let's take a look at some of the images released by Fox last month:

The above image shows (I mean, aside Charlize Theron holding a gun) the kit that Scott and his DP, Dariusz Wolski, used to film Prometheus. From what we know, they used a RED Epic camera, combined with the Element Technica ATOM 3D rig. This piece of information is important, because around 50% of the big budget films you're excited to see between now and 2015 will be filmed with similar gear. The nearest rival to this camera is the Arri Alexa. Anyway, the reason I blather about any of this is because Fox seem hell-bent on making sure you understand "Prometheus was filmed in native 3D". As an example, check out this shot of Scott, wearing the same glasses you and I will be when we finally see the film in June:

Aside from providing geeks like me some excitement, what does this shot say to the common-man? I read the image as if the marketing department is saying, 'this man knows what he's doing, he brought you Blade Runner and Alien for crying out loud, and he filmed this with glasses on... so the authoritative way to see Prometheus is in three dimensions." Fox, having single-handedly re-invented the 3D landscape with Avatar a few years ago, know what they're doing. Word on the street is that they've made something equally special with this film, and they've gone all-in on Prometheus now. They understand that audiences are suffering from 3D-fatigue, so they've gone out of their way to make sure you see their latest sci-fi epic the way it was intended. 

This week the rating for the film was confirmed to be an 'R' in America. Traditionally, the rule of thumb is that your standard four-quadrant Hollywood blockbuster needs to be rated PG-13 or below. There have been very few exceptions to this rule, because teenagers traditionally power the box-office grosses through their first weekend, State-side. The 'R' rating must mean Fox are damned sure they've made a piece of entertainment that adult audiences are going to root for. Given they're confident enough to release it in that state, and they're emphasising the 3D in the marketing materials, one suspects we're in for one helluva ride in June.