More 3-D films to jump off screen
Despite the current in-your-face economic crunch, moviegoers will be hanging on to their armrests in 2009 as 3-D movies make a big-screen splash.
More than 20 films will be getting a high-tech 3-D presentation in theaters this year, including DreamWorks Animation's much-anticipated "Monsters vs. Aliens" in March and the James Cameron-directed "Avatar" for the next holiday season.
So what does this mean to Atlanta movie audiences? Currently, nearly 20 metro theaters have the capacity to show 3-D movies, with more than a dozen area movie houses hoping to join the bandwagon throughout the year.
But at the moment, the economy has many in the digital and 3-D conversion game lowering their 2009 expectations.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation, says it's slowed things down. About a year ago, he says, they were expecting about 4,000 3-D screens nationwide in time for the March 27 release of "Monsters vs. Aliens." Now, he's expecting fewer than 2,500. The film will be released in both standard and 3-D formats.
According to a New York Times report, the first 3-D release of the year, "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" from Lions Gate, will appear on just 900 3-D screens nationally, including Atlanta, beginning Jan. 16. A standard version will run on about 1,600 additional screens.
Bad timing
Richard Manzione, vice president of strategic development for Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, says the economic climate may affect the timing of its 2009 rollout. He's keeping his fingers crossed things will pick up in the first quarter.
Russ Nunley, vice president of marketing and communications for Regal Entertainment Group, says there are no plans for a big rush to convert its Atlanta screens before "Monsters vs. Aliens," but anything could happen. As DCIP continues with its plans and Hollywood keeps putting 3-D films in the hopper, he's confident the rollout will move forward.
"The good news is that in a town the size of Atlanta, there is 3-D capacity," Nunley says. "Even if not another digital screen rolls out, there are plenty of locations you can go out and find digital 3-D movies."
Then there's the issue of ticket cost. According to Jim Dorey, founder of the Canadian 3-D film technology blog MarketSaw (www.marketsaw.blogspot.com), 3-D movies typically require a 30-percent increase in ticket price.
Pay a premium
Most Atlanta 3-D theaters charge about $2 more than the regular ticket price. This is usually up to the distributor, and special events like 3-D concert films and sporting events are pricier. Tickets to last year's "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" reportedly topped out at $15 a pop. And tickets to the 3-D version of "Monsters vs. Aliens" will cost about $5 more than the regular price.
Manzione says that "3-D performance to date has demonstrated that moviegoers appreciate the enhanced entertainment experience offered by 3-D, and they're willing to pay a slight premium for that experience."
If the distributors and exhibitors can get over the economic hurdles, Katzenberg hopes the unique immersion of new-school 3-D helps bring movie lovers out of their home theaters.
"Over the last decade, the home presentation of movies has gone through extraordinary innovation," he says, with "these giant flat-screen TVs with HD, Blu-ray and digital sound. Meanwhile, the theater experience hasn't changed that much at all in the last several decades. So now here's a new technology that creates a premium presentation in a movie theater that really cannot be replicated in the home."
