Warner Bros. cancels 3-D ‘Potter’ version

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

Stung by criticism that it rushed the conversion of “Clash of the Titans” into 3-D earlier this year, Warner Bros. is playing it safe with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1.”

The studio said Friday it would not release a planned 3-D version of the movie when it opens Nov. 19, saying it didn’t have enough time to complete the conversion of the seventh Harry Potter film.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality,” the studio said.

The move appears aimed at avoiding a repeat of the controversy that erupted last spring when consumers and critics widely panned the quality of the 3-D effects in “Clash of the Titans,” one of a slew of movies that studios scrambled to convert to 3-D following the huge box-office success of “Avatar.”

The studio did say it planned to release the second installment of the final “Harry Potter” film as scheduled, on July 15, 2011, in both 2-D and 3-D formats.