According to ComingSoon.net, Warner Bros. has abandoned plans to release an IMAX 3D version of the upcoming CG-animated feature Happy Feet. The movie about penguins who sing and dance to attract mates will instead get a standard 2D IMAX rollout Nov. 17, the same day it hits theaters nationwide.
Directed by George Miller, whose credits include the Babe and Mad Max films, Happy Feet is a animated musical comedy starring Elijah Wood as the voice of Mumble, a penguin who uses fancy dance moves to make up for the fact that he is the worst singer in a culture that relies on good pipes. Hugh Jackman (Flushed Away) will voice Mumble’s father, Memphis, and Nicole Kidman will play his mother, Norma Jean. The voice cast also includes Robin Williams (Robots) and Brittany Murphy (King of the Hill) and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix trilogy).
Happy Feet was to be digitally converted into IMAX 3D via the proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, a process that reportedly can cost up to $10 million. Warner says that a 3D print couldn’t be struck in time for a simultaneous release, but the studio does plan to release a 3D version in the near future.
As with most animated features these days, Happy Feet has a doppelganger looming on the horizon. Sony Pictures Animation is currently animating Surf’s Up, a penguin comedy that revolves around a big surfing competition. Featuring the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel and James Woods, that film is slated for release in the summer of 2007.
Also in the pipeline is Bob Saget’s animated spoof, Farce of the Penguins, which is a twisted take on last year’s hit documentary, March of the Penguins. The Thinkfilm 2007 release features the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Alexander, Dane Cook, Whoopi Goldberg, John Stamos, Saget and several other comics.
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