Exclusive: Louis Leterrier Talks ‘Clash Of The Titans’ Decisions & Its Poor 3D Choices

You’ve probably read some quotes from Sam Worthington lately on his regrets about “Clash of the Titans” and its overall quality. The actor essentially apologized for the lack of it in the first film in a recent interview.

“I just think we can improve on it,” Worthington told Moviefone about the upcoming ‘Titans’ sequel already set for a March 30, 2012 release date. “I think the first one, we kind of let down some people. And yeah, I totally agree. The only point of doing a sequel is either the audience demands it or you believe you can better the first one. What we’re setting out to do with this one — the writers and the director and myself — is improve. I think I can act f***ing better, to be honest … Just take all the notes from people that I have been reading about on the ‘net and give them a movie they f***ing want. This one I want to kind of try to satisfy a lot more people.”

While he didn’t respond to these quotes directly, we did speak to “Clash of the Titans” director Louis Leterrier very recently and he did give us some of his thoughts on the film, some reasons for the choices that were made and also some regrets of his own.

“I think people confused the 3D with the quality of the movie,” Leterrier said. “I didn’t direct a 3D movie. I just did a movie and then the studio decided to convert it into 3D. I was not against it, so I’m partly guilty.”

Being a test case for early 3D turned out to be a poor idea for both Warner Bros. and Leterrier, and fans and critics ripped the film apart, making it the poster-boy for bad 3D conversion. Leterrier admits he was a bit naive about how audiences would respond.

“I thought people would be able to choose [to see it] between [one format or the other],” he said. “And some tests were good and some tests were bad. 3D conversion is still in its [early] stages. So you sort of hope for the best, and the final conversion was not the best. There were some good shots, but there were some terrible shots and obviously that’s what people remember.”

“I’m not going cry on the critics, but it’s true that people were confusing [the quality] of the 3D with [the quality] of the movie. It’s funny, I went to see the movie with critics when it was projected in 2D and people clapped at the end, they liked it. And then [the studio] invited them again, and the second time it was in 3D, and the 3D was not set, the projection was dark…and that’s a nice way to shoot yourself in the foot.”

Leterrier said a lot of times, it just comes down to the fact that you can’t please everyone. “It’s funny. Edgar [Wright] and I are the opposite. He has an amazing movie that critics love and everything [but no audience], and I have a pretty good movie with a bad 3D conversion that everybody went to see and critics bashed. You never win. Chris Nolan always wins [laughs].”

And Leterrier won’t be deterred as he strives to make films that will please both critics and crowds saying, “You keep going, you keep pushing….I will keep making movies. I will keep making movies in 3D but use the proper system and do it right.” And he may just get his shot. He’s been said to be James Cameron‘s top choice to direct the 3D remake of “Fantastic Voyage,” a project Paul Greengrass circled for a few months earlier this year, but eventually passed on. Leterrier confirmed that he’s been in discussions with Cameron, but nothing yet has crystallized on that front.