17' throw too much for PT-AE8000U or Epson 5020?

When I remodeled my basement a few years back I stupidly assumed that a projector should always be mounted on the ceiling at the back of the room. I thought, "meh it's only 17' that's not a big room" so without any due-diligence I ran with it. Now that I've started researching equip it seems closer would have been better. I ran power and conduit to that spot and have some framing in there for the mount so as much as I'd like to be able to mount it closer I'm married to that spot for better or for worse.

My theater isn't a dedicated room but I do have complete light control. The ceiling is 7' and a dark brown though the walls are lighter sand?? color. I plan on watching primarily movies here but since my bar is there I'm sure we'll throw on the occasional football game with some lighting. The seating is currently about 14' back but I could adjust since it's just a couch.

I'm leaning towards a 115" 2.35 screen which is why I'm leaning towards the PT-AE8000U since I can't afford an anamorphic lens. I don't think I'll jump back an forth between scope and 16:9 so frequently that I couldn't manually make the change though if the 5020 is a better option. My wife likes the idea of 3D and I'm sure my son will enjoy it so that's why I'm considering 3D capable projectors.

So, did I screw pooch at 17'? I know that range is within the specs for both projectors but after reading some reviews on projectorreviews it sounds like I'm going to loose a lot of lumens zooming pretty much all the way in so I'm concerned the image will be dim and I'll feel as though I should have just folded and went with a 70 TV.

I'm also considering going with an AT screen. That would bring the screen closer to the projector, though I haven't read enough to know by how much. Would say a foot closer make much difference? I honestly haven't had a chance to read up enough on AT screens to know if they work well with 3D and how their gain compares to non-AT.

I'll continue to do more reading but I'm posting now because I see Panasonic is running a rebate deal on their AE8000 which expires on Jan 31st so I would like to sogotp.

Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to read through my dribble and respond.

Thanks for the feedback jnabq. I didn't end up buying the Panasonic. After reading your post and thinking about it for a bit it finally dawned on me that I was debating between the convenience of a lens memory, image brightness and perhaps quality to depending on who's review you read. No matter how inconvenient it is for me to get off my lazy ars I could adjust the zoom and focus to switch between 1.78 and 2.35. I can't, however, make the image brighter. I'll do some looking into the Benq 7000.

I did find Seymour AV has their AT Center Stage XD screen material that claims a gain of 1.2. I know nothing more about them but if they turn out to have a quality screen that could help a little.

Thanks again for the info it was much appreciated.