It's a Bird... No, It's a 3-D Movie, And More of Them Are on the Way By ANDY GEORGIADES Wall Street Journal
June 28, 2006; Page B9A http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115144802416592370.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news A stream of 3-D films is about to be unleashed to moviegoers, starting with "Superman Returns" today. Imax Corp. is applying its live-action 2D-to-3D film-conversion process to about 20 minutes of the film, which Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Pictures unit will release concurrently in 86 large-format Imax theaters world-wide, plus thousands of conventional screens. The film will eventually open in a total of 108 Imax theaters, making it the widest Hollywood film release in the company's history. "Audiences will be able to feel like they're flying with Superman for the first time in movie history," Imax Co-Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said. The film industry's interest in 3-D has always been about providing an experience that people can't get at home. The mid-1950s is often referred to as the golden age of 3-D, as studios released such films as "House of Wax" and "It Came From Outer Space" in 3-D to lure audiences away from their newest fascination -- television. Fifty years later, as advanced home-theater systems eat away at box-office receipts, studios are once again turning to 3-D. Imax's 2004 holiday hit, "The Polar Express," was a turning point. Playing on a tiny fraction of the total screens, the computer-animated film grossed about $45 million in its initial Imax 3D release, or about 30% of the film's overall box office. It added another $15 million in its re-release last year. In addition to "Superman Returns," Imax and Warner Bros. will be releasing two other computer-animated films in 3-D this year: "The Ant Bully" in August and "Happy Feet" in November. In September, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures unit will release its animation division's first computer-animated film, "Open Season," in Imax 3D. "We're talking to several different studios about 2007, and I'm confident we'll be announcing some projects shortly," Mr. Gelfond said. "And a part of our discussions includes whether the films will have a 3-D element." However, there are also 3-D films on the way outside of Imax, thanks to the expanding number of digital 3-D projection systems in conventional theaters. Sony is releasing "Monster House" in July, and Walt Disney Co. is planning to re-release "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in Disney Digital 3D in October, as well as its newest computer-animated film, "Meet the Robinsons," in March 2007. Disney's films are converted from 2-D to 3-D by Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Industrial Light & Magic unit. Computer-animated films dominate the 3-D slate simply because the conversion process is far less complicated than for live action. But as the technology is perfected, Mr. Gelfond hopes Imax will be able to convert a 2-D live-action film to 3-D -- in its entirety -- for release in 2008. Michael Lewis, co-founder and chairman of Real D, which makes hardware and software for upgrading digital projectors to show 3-D films, said 3-D can carry a bigger impact. "We've solved the things that have prevented 3-D from becoming mainstream," he said, noting the images are realistic, not irritating. He said Real D, which has licensed its technology to 36 exhibition companies, is seen as a main driver of digital cinema, which is finally taking root. Disney's 3-D rendition of "Chicken Little" played on 84 screens in digital 3-D last year, but Mr. Lewis expects "Monster House" to play on 200 screens and "Meet the Robinsons" to play on 500. Lylle Breier, senior vice president of special events at Disney, said all of the parties involved with "Chicken Little" were thrilled with its performance in 3-D, which tripled the per-screen average of the 2-D release. In North America, the film grossed a total of $7.4 million in 3-D and $135 million overall, but overflow from sold-out 3-D screenings also helped the 2-D performance. Ms. Breier said the box-office take was limited only by the small number of screens the film could play on and the fact that many of the digital 3-D-capable projectors were installed in smaller auditoriums. "One of the great things about digital is the amount of theaters you're going to be able to play in is going to keep rising exponentially," she said, adding that the economics change significantly when a film can be shown on 1,000 screens rather than 100. She noted that Disney's release of "Fantasia 2000" was one of the most successful in Imax history. Mr. Lewis of Real D said his company is focused on expanding the size of its footprint because that's what content producers want. While he believes the market for 3-D film presentations is likely big enough for multiple platforms, he said digital opens the door to other opportunities, such as showing live concerts and sports. "At the end of the day, it's creating a market, and so that's the most important thing," he said. Imax offered a similar take, saying the more choices that consumers have, the more aware they are of 3-D and the better it is for the film industry. That said, Imax caters to the premium end of the market, so it doesn't feel threatened by digital 3-D. "In the 3-D area, there are other technologies, but none comes close to providing the Imax experience," Mr. Gelfond said. In addition, he said Imax has made a great deal of technical progress on its own digital format. "I hope we have a full plan in place that we can announce later this year," he said. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
