Cabin in the Woods Headed to 2011 and 3-D

Never been that big into Joss Whedon. I realize that means I automatically lose nerd cred, but so be it. Sorry, but the guy gives off a “My shit is awesome!” vibe. Although to give credit where it’s due, I liked Serenity – this coming from someone who didn’t catch a single episode of Firefly.

It’s with that confession that I also admit to not following the production of The Cabin in the Woods, the horror film he wrote and produced with Drew Goddard (alum of Whedon as well as J.J. Abrams) at the helm. About the only other items known about the project are its cast (including soon-to-be Thor Chris Hemsworth) and a plot involving a “new twist” on the old “young people stranded in the woods” story.

The good folks over at Shock Till You Drop are reporting that MGM has pushed the film back a hair shy of a year from February 5, 2010 to January 14, 2011. “Oh that’s because it sucks and the filmmakers have to rework it,” you suggest? That’s not what’s going down according to their sources. No, the reception from those who’ve seen it is “phenomenal.” The culprit behind this is the decision to convert the film to 3-D.

Assuming the claims are valid (and I believe they are considering STYDs track-record as of late), why spend the extra time and money on a gimmick like 3-D if the film actually works on its own? That’s my argument against Avatar. I don’t care how Goddamn jaw-dropping the motion-capture work and 3-D technology is. It has to be able to play equally well in regular 2-D theaters in addition to these IMAX and IMAX 3-D screens in order to succeed.

But maybe Cabin needs said gimmick just to entice movie-goers to show up. It certainly worked for Final Destination 4 this past summer.