This was inevitable. Since its release on September 16th, Disney's The Lion King 3D has won the weekend box office race twice and has earned almost $80 million. The re-release was bigger than anyone could have imagined, and it's hard to even say why it happened. The point is that the studio has now opened a major portal for new revenue streams and now they have announced that they will try and keep that portal from closing.
Walt Disney Studios has sent out a press release announcing that over the next couple of years they will be releasing Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc. and The Little Mermaid back into theaters with 3D conversions. The films will be staggered, with Beast arriving on January 13, 2012; Nemo coming in on September 14, 2012; Monsters hitting cinemas on January 18, 2013 (the same year as the sequel, Monsters University, will be released); and Mermaid setting sail on September 13, 2013. Said studio president Alan Bergman of the new projects, "Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both. We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen."
Following The Lion King's first week of success, our own Sean O'Connell wrote a piece titled "5 More Disney Classics That Should Get 3D Re-Releases After The Success Of The Lion-King 3D." Sadly only one of the movies (The Little Mermaid) is undergoing the conversion, but he also didn't include Pixar movies on the list. As for whether or not this is a good idea, I was actually extremely impressed by the 3D work done on The Lion King and if they can keep producing product of that quality, I don't see a problem with it.
