"They Shall Not Grow Old" Expands on Super Bowl Weekend

Many of you will be watching the Super Bowl today.  I will not.  With all due respect to most of the country, I have never been much of a sports fan in general, and football fans largely take their game so seriously that the entire event is something I can only step back from and scoff at.  All of the "we won" or "we're going to be the best" as if they are actually doing anything to help the team win is silly to me.  I am more interested in seeing if Maroon 5 performs a SpongeBob SquarePants song during the half time show more than I am who wins the game.  However, I WILL be enjoying seeing Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" in 3D for the first time!  The movie has had three sold out Fathom Events screenings (none of which I had time to see), and despite not getting an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary at the 91st Annual Academy Awards, the fact that it did sell out and has Peter Jackson as a director probably gave the studio a lot of confidence in attracting those who don't partake in the ritual of the 'Big Game' to their screenings.

What's more, the vast majority of the showings will be in 3D and it is being advertised as something you need to see in that format.

Is the movie going to crack the top ten at the box office?  I doubt it.  Even though it premiered at the number nine spot on Friday, it IS a documentary at the end of the day!  One that is based off World War I (a time period that is usually overlooked by the more popular World War II subject).  Also, it has received criticism from critics (myself included I admit) that colorizing the footage and making it 3D actually tampers with history.  I can understand why they would think that.  My last two BluRay's of "It's a Wonderful Life" have color versions available, and despite hearing that they are excellent, I wouldn't dare watch them.  The film is perfect as is and no tinkering is needed as far as I'm concerned.  Granted, that version pretty much exists so that NBC can air it every year and not get letters about why they are showing something in black and white.  While I need to see what Peter Jackson has done with his movie, I believe he is trying to bring interest to a topic that is largely undiscussed by the general public, and he is trying to do so in a way that will catch people's attention (in all fairness, it seems to be working).

People are actually talking about this one and most people I know are planning to spend an extra few bucks for the 3D screening.  That is an admission I have not heard from some of my friends in a long time.  Well, unless they were seeing the movie with me, in which case they more or less had to see the 3D version (ask the group of people who ended up shelling out extra money for the "Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse" IMAX 3D screening even though I was the only one who cared to see it in that format in the first place).  So even if it isn't a huge box office hit, it is very nice to know that Peter Jackson is still creating art with 3D, and is even making a point to get the public interested in a 3D movie during a weekend where most will be watching TV with colors painted on their face and spilling nachos on the ground when 'their team' makes a stupid mistake that they obviously shouldn't have.  And he's pulling it off with a documentary on World War I.  That is a certain kind of marketing genius I could not have predicted going into the weekend, and "They Shall Not Grow Old" should not be overlooked for that.