U2 3-D memento could change concert movies

Commentary: The 'Hannah Montana' success also shows 3-D's potential

By Jon Friedman, MarketWatch

Last update: 12:01 a.m. EST Feb. 8, 2008

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A few weeks ago, I saw a "U2 3D," a new concert film. I like U2 a lot but I chalked up to hype the claims that the technology contributed to a breathtaking viewing experience.

Wrong again!

The 85-minute movie, which was made by a company called 3ality Digital, was as breathtaking as everyone had insisted. The best way I can convey the experience is to say this:

At one point, my view of the band was blocked by an excited young woman who jumped out of her seat and began dancing wildly to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (my favorite U2 song). I was about to ask her to sit down when I realized that she had been in the crowd at the concert in Buenos Aires, not seated in the screening room.

At the recent Sundance festival in Utah, a screening of the movie created a stir. It was a word of mouth phenomenon and tickets went quickly. Some people who got shut out were forced to grovel outside the theater in the hope of snaring a seat inside.

The movie is shrewdly put together. U2 performs its big hits in full force and there are ample close-ups of not only lead singer Bono and the guitarist The Edge but also bass player Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Whether you've seen the guys in concert a dozen times or never even once, you should enjoy this movie.

It takes its place along side The Band's "The Last Waltz" and Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" among highly respected rock concert movies. Jonathan Demme's picture "Heart of Gold," capturing Neil Young in concert in Nashville a few years ago, is a charming snapshot of Young playing country-tinged songs on stage. But a 3-D experience makes that movie seem dated.

Martin Scorsese's documentary about the Rolling Stones, which is not in 3-D, will be coming out in U.S. theaters several weeks and also promises to be a box office success.

Financial potential

The financial potential of the 3-D technology has Wall Street and Hollywood drooling.

The brilliantly conceived and marketed film "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" generated $29 million at the box office last weekend - a record take for a Super Bowl weekend.

The common thread of showing acts as diverse as Miley Cyrus, whose father singer/actor Billy Ray had a huge country-music hit with "Achy Breaky Heart", and U2 is the 3-D technology.

Even if tickets at the box office are a little more expensive than usual, it's much cheaper to plunk down $15 to enjoy a virtual concert experience than it is to pay a small fortune to catch Cyrus or U2 on stage somewhere. (Plus, the lines to get in are a lot shorter!)

The movie will be shown in wide release in coming weeks.

Behind U2 3D

Peter Shapiro is a co-founder of 3ality and a producer of the movie. One of his partners is his brother Jon Shapiro.

The spark was a series of tests about the National Football League that Shapiro shot several years ago. He showed them to such insiders as Catherine Owens and Paul McGuinness, U2's long-time curator of visual imagery for the band's tours, and manager, respectively. They were intrigued. (Owens went on to help produce. and co-direct "U2 3D" with Mark Pellington.)

When Shapiro was tipped off that the members of U2 had gathered in lower Manhattan to shoot footage for a documentary to Canadian poet and singer Leonard Cohen, he raced downtown to the East Village venue. As it turned out, Shapiro was a co-owner of the Slipper Room, where the band mates had assembled.

Shapiro said the band agreed to let him shoot a test run while they performed in concert in the U.S.