Paramount to distribute 3-D Cirque du Soleil film

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Paramount Pictures will distribute a new 3-D movie about Cirque du Soleil directed by “Shrek” filmmaker Andrew Adamson and produced by “Avatar’s” James Cameron, the studio and the Canadian circus outfit announced Tuesday.

The studio did not specify a release date for “Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away” but did say the movie, which combines narrative and documentary storytelling, will arrive in theaters this year.

“The coupling of filmmaker James Cameron’s groundbreaking 3-D visual accomplishments and Andrew Adamson’s beautiful direction, combined with a timeless original story written especially for this movie, will make for a truly amazing moviegoeing experience for audiences of all ages,” Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman, said in a statement.

In announcing the roughly $20-miilion production more than a year ago, Adamson said he wasn’t interested in making a commercial for Cirque, which projects that 15 million people will see one of its arty circus productions this year.

‘I want to make a film that celebrates what Cirque does,” he said at the time. “It’s not a documentary. And, at the same time, it’s not a visual effects show. We are not going to remove the wires that the performers are flying on. What we are doing is celebrating an art form.”

He said Cameron may shoot some underwater sequences for the movie, which could be the first in a series of Cirque films.

“I wanted to give a very different perspective of Cirque and put the audience at an angle they’ve never seen before,” Adamson said. “I think we’re able to take the audience into the show. You can focus on something you might otherwise not have noticed.”

-- John Horn

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