Hot Topics:

3-D runs risk of overhype

'Avatar' producer stresses story over format

3-D can have adverse health effects

3-D industry needs quality control

Industry tries to avoid another format war

'Burn Notice' gets renewal(1325 views)

Swiss OK Polanski move to chalet(887 views)

Pearce hops on to 'Hungry Rabbit Jumps'(727 views)

'It' is 3D's lost opportunity(690 views)

Amid the buzz about 3-D as the future of cinema, there's already some backlash, notably from critic Roger Ebert and L.A. Times blogger Patrick Goldstein, who've been skeptical about its creative potential.

Some in the 3-D community have worried that when an expensive 3-D release flops, as some inevitably will, the industry will sour on stereo.

"Avatar" producer Jon Landau says the key is not to count on 3-D to sell an otherwise weak picture.

"Technology does not have to live up to the hype; storytelling does," he says. "If you do not make a good movie, you could be in black-and-white, you could be in mono, it does not matter. People are not going to go."

Disney's Mark Zoradi says there is a risk of overhype, but echoes Landau: "If a movie fails in 3-D, then it probably would have failed in 2-D as well. You would go back to the script and the overall story. If a movie fails in CGI, you wouldn't say it should be done in 2-D."

The bottom line, Landau says, is: "I think we are beyond the blame game as it relates to 3-D. History has proven to us at the recent box office that 3-D works and people are seeking out that experience."