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Sigh.

Variety is reporting that Steven Soderbergh is planning a 3D rock musical about Cleopatra. He’s currently trying to woo Catherine Zeta-Jones to play the Egyptian queen and Hugh Jackman to play Marc Antony. The music for the film is being written by the band Guided By Voices (who supposedly disbanded in 2004, which means it’s probably all being written by their main songwriter, Robert Pollard).

3D films are going to be annoying for the next few years as everyone and every studio tries to work it into every film on their slate. They need to realize that 3D is a gimmick, nothing more, and will never be as important or integral to the film-going experience as sound or color was (regardless of what Brendan Fraser says). 3D works for films that cater to that gimmick, films that feature solid action from beginning to end. That’s why it’s a smart play for films like Journey to the Center of the Earth, My Bloody Valentine, and most children’s animated features. They’re inherently visual and kinetic in ways that many movies aren’t.

But a Cleopatra musical? There’s nothing there that screams out for 3D, unlike say, Soderbergh’s currently in-production The Girlfriend Experience starring porn star Sasha Grey… that film needs to be in 3D. Hell, even his Ocean’s Eleven films would have made more sense with all their action and hijinks. (3D cleavage in Erin Brockovich would have worked too). But a Cleopatra musical?

What do you think about the future of 3D films? Can it benefit any film?