Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

In May 2010, the Glee cast performed a sold-out 13-date North American concert tour.[9] A European extension of the tour was announced in November of that year,[10] and further North American dates were added for May and June 2011.[11]

In early May 2011, it was announced that 20th Century Fox and series creator Ryan Murphy would together produce a 3-D film of the tour, directed by Kevin Tancharoen and shot during the North American leg. Murphy stated that the number of venues Glee Live! In Concert! could visit was limited, due to time constraints imposed by producing the television series, and as such, the film would enable a wider audience to experience the tour.[12] Gary Newman, chairman of 20th Century Fox, expanded: "Part of what motivated us to do this movie in the first place is there was such a clamoring among Glee fans who said, 'Why didn't you bring this tour to my city?' They felt left out because we only went to four cities during our first tour. This movie will give fans—not just in the US but around the world—the chance to experience the 'Glee' concert in a visceral way." Newman said that the 3D format was chosen to give the audience "an immersing experience", and that the project is principally about "brand extension". He suggested that Glee is apt to work in the medium of film as many fans are teenagers and young adults, the prime concert film demographic, and are able to relate to Glee's central themes such as inclusion.[5]

Filmed on June 16–17, 2011, at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie was shot with the Cameron-Pace Group's 3D Fusion camera system. Glen MacPherson served as director of photography, and utilised seven Fusion 3D rigs with a range of set-ups, including a Cablecam, Steadicam, and Technocrane. The digital cinematography cameras held by the rigs mainly comprised a combination of Arri Alexas and Red Epics. CPG CEO Vince Pace noted, "One of the biggest challenges that we were able to overcome was the way these cameras are handled in a live production environment (compared with a feature shoot). The infrastructure of (CPG's mobile 3D production truck) had to accommodate the multiple camera formats and process them as a single format. That is not common in the broadcast world." The production truck was updated accordingly, and acquired, amongst other new technology items, a Kayenne Video Production Center production switcher, which allowed for the creation of line cuts—explained by Vince as cuts "created live and used to capture the energy at the time of the performance." He cited this as a factor which helped enable the film's completion with just a six-week post-production schedule. Though Pace would not disclose the project's budget when interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, he said that it was around 40% lower than previous 3D concert films, and narrowed the cost gap between 2D productions and CPG's earlier 3D works, such as Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.[4] Such budget was later revealed by The Hollywood Reporter to be $9 million.[2]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 60% of 90 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.72/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The unconverted will remain just as perplexed as ever, but for gleeful Gleeks, The 3D Concert Movie delivers exactly what it promises."[15] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

The film opened exclusively in 3D in 2,040 theaters. It performed below expectations in its opening weekend, earning just $5.7 million and failing to appear in the box office top 10.[3] The film was expected to open in the $10–12 million range.[18] As of September 29, 2011, the film had grossed $11,862,398 domestically and $18,252,398 worldwide, based on a $9 million budget.[3] In the United States, the film is the seventh highest-grossing music concert film of all time.[19]

The film was released on DVD, though the DVD version is not identical to the film. At a press conference the day of the film's premiere, Ryan Murphy said, "We're doing another version in a couple of weeks on DVD". One announced difference between the versions is that Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), who does not appear in the film, does appear in the video.[7] The film was released on December 20, 2011 in the United States, in DVD, Blu-ray, and 2-disc 3D Blu-ray formats.[20] The UK edition, in these formats, was released earlier, on December 5, 2011.[21] The movie was released in Australia on December 7, 2011.