Monsters vs. Aliens is DreamWorks' foray into full-on stereo-3-D-only animation production. Time will tell if 3-D films can curtail the worsening piracy problem in the industry.

T&A: Time.com published an article where it interviewed some of the leading directors and producers of Hollywood today, including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg, on the future of films and film-making with advances in stereoscopic 3-D technology today.

While the article explored the various flights, flops and follies of older stereoscopic 3-D incarnations over the years (the current one is the 8th), it also talked about recent moves to convert older blockbusters like Titanic, Toy Story and Star Wars into 3-D, and the intense hype built around upcoming 3-D films like James Cameron’s Avatar, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Monsters vs. Aliens (which opens this month) and Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson’s Tintin.

Unlike previous incarnations of stereoscopic 3-D, the current tech now enables viewers to don polarized 3-D glasses instead of the dorky colored ones, while film-makers have now perfected the camera systems to film it.

To many, this may seem like the next big paradigm shift after sound and color invaded cinema screens. Studios are hopeful that this would also curtail piracy, as it is harder for digital camera-toting moviegoers to film and distribute it widely to pirate-users at home, who may need the right 3-D glasses and proper hardware just to experience stereoscopic 3-D. (Editor opinions: 1)

What’s interesting however is the amount people are willing to pay more for in ticket pricing just to experience the same film in stereoscopic 3-D rather than 2-D. There is also the question of whether cinema operators are ramping up their cinema systems quickly enough in time for the biggest 3-D film to hit us soon — James Cameron’s first ever feature film post-Titanic — the sci-fi film Avatar (due worldwide on December 2009). Even Steven Spielberg’s excited about it.

Vijay Anand, Editor, HardwareZone.com

Vijay (HardwareZone.com): Movies with compelling stories + engaging and relevant 3D elements = winning formula.

The term 3-D is still mostly hype I think. Consumers will only bite into it when you have a movie that’s worthy of that element. If every other movie planned is suddenly released in stereoscopic 3-D all at the same time, you might lose the carry-on “oomph” effect of what makes 3-D so special.

In the end, content is still king, 3-D is just the icing. But certainly, when the movie is worth its 3-D moniker, pirating it would be far more complex and will certainly help put off ‘vultures’.