Jon Favreau sounds off on 'Cowboys and Aliens,' opting for 2-D over 3-D

Two worlds are set to collide next summer in "Cowboys and Aliens," under the command of Jon Favreau. The "Iron Man" director is combining the mystery of a Western with the thrills of an alien invasion movie, with sci-fi and hero legend Harrison Ford as the lead.

Favreau had a chance to talk with HitFix while making the rounds in San Diego, shortly after he introduced Ford to a Comic-Con Hall H crowd for the very first time. He dug into his new project, and just how it fits into his directorial canon.

"Cowboys and Aliens" has "given me the permission to not worry about  the success or failure of this and just follow my heart. A western is something I've wanted to do since 'Swingers' and I found the right script and the right producers," Favreau told HitFix in our video interview. "It also gave me permission to do it in 2-D. It's a mandate as you can see by most of the studios to do all these big films in 3-D. They charge more at the box office, there's no piracy. So this may be the last opportunity to be able to do a big 2-D movie."

Just because there's a litany of big movies shot in 3-D doesn't mean Favreau wasn't at least tempted. "We shot two days of tests in 3-D. And Universal offered the resources to actually do it. I love 3-D I think it's great, but for a Western I really wanted to do anamorphic and on film.

"At this point in my career, if I screw up I'll hopefully still be able to get work... It's the only film that I can think of next summer that isn't a sequel a reboot or a superhero movie. A nice 2-D, interesting film might be just what the doctor ordered."