ONE of Hollywood's leading directors called yesterday on studios, film-makers and distributors to wake up to the role that 3-D films can play in winning back audiences.

"I want to inspire people to come back to cinemas with an experience they can only have there," he said. "Theatre owners, exhibitors and distributors should work to bring a sense of showmanship back to the cinema experience. Cinemagoing won't go away, but it can get eroded. This is a wake-up call. Are we just going to lie down and let change roll over us, or do something about it?"

The latest 3-D technology boasts an unsurpassed clarity, making audiences feel that they are in the picture. Two reels of film go through the projector and fool the brain into merging them and seeing them in 3-D.

Although audiences still have to wear special glasses, advances mean that the eye strain and headaches associated with the green-and-red ones of past decades have been eliminated.

Cameron was speaking to The Times yesterday as Superman Returns, directed by Bryan Singer, has become the first live-action picture to have segments converted into 3-D.

Both the 2-D and 3-D versions are being released next month. Some 20 minutes of the film have been converted to 3-D, with visual cues -- a green glasses symbol appears at the bottom of the screen -- to indicate when to don the aids.

Timesonline