Tinto Brass: CALIGULA Follow-Up to Be World’s First 3D Porn Film

Malcolm McDowell in Caligula

Avatar's 3D success has had some far-reaching effects. First, Warner Bros. announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part II and Clash of the Titans will be converted to 3D. Now comes erotic filmmaker Tinto Brass, 76, who says he'll produce Italy's first-ever 3D movie — which will also happen to be the world's first-ever 3D pornographic production.

Brass has been making erotic films for decades. Among his efforts are Salon Kitty (1976), Paprika, Life in a Brothel (1991), All Women Do It (1992), The Voyeur (1994), and Transgressions (2000). For his first film in 3D, he intends to "revisit an abandoned project about a Roman emperor that was ruined by Americans, and go from there."

The "abandoned project" in question is Caligula (1979), which he co-directed with Gore Vidal and Bob Guccione, who later recut much of the film and added several sexually explicit scenes. (Brass' films are more family-friendly. You usually get to see only bare buttocks and rubber penises.) In the Caligula cast: Malcolm McDowell, John Gielgud, Helen Mirren, and Peter O'Toole.

The new Caligula would begin after the death of the Roman emperor's sister Drusilla. With Rome's coffers empty, Caligula comes up with a brilliant idea: the wives of the Roman senators should earn the State some much-needed cash by becoming prostitutes. But that doesn't go over all that well in the Roman Senate. As a result, a group of senators attempts a coup d'etat led by Claudius and Messalina.

"The first film discussed the orgy of power; this one will show the power of orgy," the filmmaker affirmed, calling his 3D project "a magnificent hope."

Brass added that he's all set to begin casting and jotting down the screenplay. Filming should commence in the spring.

Photo: Penthouse Films