Ain't It Cool report that Marvel/Paramount have been so bowled over by a minute's worth of experimental 3D tests on Iron Man 2 footage that they are considering releasing one of 2010's most hotly-anticipated movies in 3D.

The footage was not shot with 3D cameras, but has nonetheless been converted to Digital 3D, and apparently it's a hell of an effect. The same conversion is also being considered for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, apparently - looks like the Avatar footage did its work well, as PR for the new wave of 3D cinema.

What beats me is how any process can convert straight shots - i.e. non-CGI shots - into 3D. How does that work? Disney are re-rendering the Toy Story movies in 3D, but all that really requires is the addition of a second virtual camera and the willingness to re-render the entire movie with twice the frames. But surely that depth-perception information is missing from a standard shot of someone talking, walking or whatever?

Well, anyway it's said to work, as AICN also report that last year's Iron Man is also being mooted for a conversion to 3D, presumably as a re-release to capitalise on Iron Man 2 in the lead-up months.

AICN