Guillermo Del Toro Agrees (Reluctantly?) To Convert ‘Pacific Rim’ Into 3D

3D might have lost some of its luster since the glory days of "Avatar" all the way back in 2009 — films like "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "The Amazing Spider-Man" made the bulk of their money in 2D, domestically at least — but it's still a profitable money spinner domestically. Worst case scenario is that audiences end up paying an extra few dollars for their ticket to help battle plummeting admissions, and best case scenario is that the film, like "Avatar," "The Avengers" and others, is catapulted to gangbusters international numbers by the rest of the world's seemingly unsatiable appetizer for 3D.

That's why, despite two of this year's three biggest domestic pictures ("The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hunger Games") being in 2D, studios are as keen as ever to release films in the format, even if the films weren't envisioned in that way. And the latest to get the treatment? According to Variety, it's "Pacific Rim," the giant monsters vs. giant robots epic from Guillermo del Toro.

The film, which stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman, among others, and involves an international crew forced to battle monsters emerging from the Pacific in giant Jaeger robots piloted by two people simultaneously, was shot in 2D, and del Toro told Collider during Comic-Con that he wanted the film that way, fighting post-conversion because of the scale of the creatures and robots involved. But it looks like Warners have forced his hand, as the trade have announced that the film will be converted into three dimensions, seemingly regardless of Del Toro's wishes.

Maybe they've managed to convince him of the artistic benefits, but it seems more likely that the studio saw the money they lost out on with "The Dark Knight Rises" (judging by the script we read and the reaction to Comic-Con footage, this film, like Christopher Nolan's, is on course to make a gajillion dollars) and decided that they couldn't miss out on it again, and as del Toro hasn't yet had the monster financial success to match his critical acclaim, he likely couldn't put up too much of a fight. It's clear that it's not the director's preferred version, however, so we'd suggest that you, like us, check out "Pacific Rim" in glorious 2D when it opens on July 12th, 2013