Are you ready for digital 3-D?

[_____V_____]

Mar 14, 2008


So certain is Jeffrey Katzenberg about the re-emergence of 3-D movies that he recently traveled to Italy to talk with sunglass company Luxottica about making movie eyewear as fashion accessories.

In fact, with all DreamWorks Animation releases slated to be offered in the format, Katzenberg is a veritable 3-D ambassador, seeing its modern incarnation to be as big as the advent of color.

"I've been at this for 35 years, and when I saw it for the first time, I couldn't believe it," he says. "At the same time, 3-D won't take a bad story and make it good."

Digital 3-D was the talk of ShoWest in Las Vegas last week, not just because of the DreamWorks commitment to the format but a wealth of other big budget pics, including New Line and Walden Media's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" this summer, James Cameron's live-action/3-D hybrid "Avatar" next year and the Summit kiddie toon "Fly Me to the Moon."

There are no fewer than nine major 3-D releases skedded for 2009, including DreamWorks' "Monsters vs. Aliens" in late March.

But for all the hype, the format still faces a host of hurdles, not the least of which is its image as a 1950s gimmick. Efforts through the years to re-introduce audiences to the format -- remember "Jaws 3-D"? -- have been about as lasting as Sensurround.

The high hopes this time around lie in the fact that it comes in a much more elaborate digital 3-D format, as much about depth as it is objects popping out of the screen.

As such, some of Hollywood's best directors are pursuing 3-D projects. After "Titanic," Cameron knew he wanted to make his next movie in 3-D, and was willing to wait nearly a decade for the technology.

Disney has been at the forefront of the digital 3-D movement, although it is Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation that's gone the farthest in saying it will make all its movies in both 3-D and 2-D, beginning with "Monsters vs. Aliens."

Even Universal, which has been the quietest on the 3-D front, is looking for projects.

U prexy of worldwide marketing and distribution, Adam Fogelson, told exhibs at ShoWest that the studio is aggressively looking for 3-D projects.

What remains to be seen, however, is the extent to which exhibitors are taking to the format.

Only about 4,600 of the country's 39,000 screens are digital, and fewer than 1,000 can play 3-D movies.

Exhibs have resisted forking over the $75,000 it takes on average to convert a screen to digital, arguing that they're made to bear the cost alone, with little help from the studios.

But the allure of being able to charge an additional $4 to $5 per ticket for a 3-D title is becoming hard to ignore. In a static business like movie theaters, there are few opportunities to generate additional revenues. That's where the beauty of 3-D comes in. A 3-D movie also takes care of two other thorny problems facing studios and exhibitors: It provides an experience moviegoers can't get at home, and it is harder to pirate.

Disney's "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" stunned exhibs earlier this year when it grossed more than $31 million in its opening weekend. Even though it showed on only 684 screens, tween girls were more than happy to shell out as much as $17-$20 for a ticket to the concert film.

An unintended consequence of the 3-D movement is that it might finally be the thing that hurries along the rollout of digital screens, something Hollywood studios have long been calling for, since it will dramatically reduce print costs, as well as provide a more pristine image.

But are they looking at 3-D through rose colored glasses? Even if the format takes off among exhibs, the rollout faces barriers overseas, where exhibs have been even slower to adapt.

Without the international box office, studios producing 3-D movies face a significant roadblock, since many event films make more overseas than they do domestically.

"It is a big handicap," Paramount vice chair Rob Moore said at ShoWest luncheon panel. "The international piece of the equation isn't there."


So...are you ready for digital 3-D cinema this time around?


(Source - Variety)

[Despare]

3D will eventually have to be successful, it just has to do with the right time and technology. If it looks good then people will watch it but I'm sure they're a bit trepeditious after all the gimmicky 3D that's been released throughout the years. I think it could even be acceptable to watch at home if Holographic DVD is released (which would in turn kill blu-ray).