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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: 3-D Dying a quick death at the box office this summer
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Michael McGovern
Film Handler
Posts: 57
From: New Britain, CT, USA
Registered: May 2008
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posted 05-29-2011 11:25 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/media/30panda.html?hp
I pretty much said from the beginning that the 3-D Renaissance was going to be short lived, despite claims from the guys in suits that it was going to save the business. So far this summer, Thor, Pirates, and now Panda have all had the 2-D versions outsell the 3-D by a significant margin.
It used to be for the 3-D releases, I would be booked with two 3-D prints and maybe one 2-D 35MM if was a really big movie. This is how Thor was booked initially, but after selling out the 2-D shows, which were forced to run in a smaller house due to the largest houses now all being digital, suddenly in it's second week one screen that was exclusively 3-D was now alternating between 2-D and 3-D, and the 2-D was still outselling the 3-D.
Now since Thor, we've been booked 50/50 for 2-D and 3-D shows, usually one dedicated 3-D screen, one dedicated 2-D screen, and one alternating digital house, and the 2-D has been outselling the 3-D.
The problem is that they over saturated the 3-D market with too many sub-par films and films that had no business being in 3-D (Clash of the Titans anyone?). When people see a crummy movie in 2-D they feel ripped off, but when they see a crummy movie in 3-D they feel even more ripped off because it cost them more, and it makes them even less likely to return again.
I know I'm going to get ripped to shreds for making this comparison on this message board, but at the rate the business is going for a lot of people, in 10 or 20 people will be talking about going to see a movie in the theater the same way they talk about going to play a video game in an arcade.
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James Westbrook
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1133
From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-30-2011 01:34 AM
LOS ANGELES — Has the 3-D boom already gone bust? It’s starting to look that way — at least for American moviegoers — even as Hollywood prepares to release a glut of the gimmicky pictures.
Ripples of fear spread across Hollywood last week after “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which cost Walt Disney Studios an estimated $400 million to make and market, did poor 3-D business in North America. While event movies have typically done 60 percent of their business in 3-D, “Stranger Tides” sold just 47 percent in 3-D. “The American consumer is rejecting 3-D,” Richard Greenfield, an analyst at the financial services company BTIG, wrote of the “Stranger Tides” results.
One movie does not make a trend, but the Memorial Day weekend did not give studio chiefs much comfort in the 3-D department. “Kung Fu Panda 2,” a Paramount Pictures release of a DreamWorks Animation film, sold $53.8 million in tickets from Thursday to Sunday, a soft total, and 3-D was 45 percent of the business, according to Paramount.
Consumer rebellion over high 3-D ticket prices plays a role, and the novelty of putting on the funny glasses is wearing off, analysts say. But there is also a deeper problem: 3-D has provided an enormous boost to the strongest films, including “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland,” but has actually undercut middling movies that are trying to milk the format for extra dollars.
“Audiences are very smart,” said Greg Foster, the president of Imax Filmed Entertainment. “When they smell something aspiring to be more than it is, they catch on very quickly.”
Muddying the picture is a contrast between the performance of 3-D movies in North America and overseas. If results are troubling domestically, they are the exact opposite internationally, where the genre is a far newer phenomenon. Indeed, 3-D screenings powered “Stranger Tides” to about $256 million on its first weekend abroad; Disney trumpeted the figure as the biggest international debut of all time.
With results like that at a time when movies make 70 percent of their total box office income outside North America, do tastes at home even matter?
After a disappointing first half of the year, Hollywood is counting on a parade of 3-D films to dig itself out of a hole. From May to September, the typical summer season, studios will unleash 16 movies in the format, more than double the number last year. Among the most anticipated releases are “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” due from Paramount on July 1, and Part 2 of Part 7 of the “Harry Potter” series, arriving two weeks later from Warner Brothers.
The need is urgent. The box-office performance in the first six months of 2011 was soft — revenue fell about 9 percent compared with last year, while attendance was down 10 percent — and that comes amid decay in home-entertainment sales. In all formats, including paid streaming and DVDs, home entertainment revenue fell almost 10 percent, according to the Digital Entertainment Group.
The first part of the year held a near collapse in video store rentals, which fell 36 percent to about $440 million, offsetting gains from cut-price rental kiosks and subscriptions. In addition, the sale of packaged discs fell about 20 percent, to about $2.2 billion, while video-on-demand, though growing, delivered total sales of less than a quarter of that amount.
At the box office, animated films, which have recently been Hollywood’s most reliable genre, have fallen into a deep trough, as the category’s top three performers combined — “Rio,” from Fox; “Rango,” from Paramount; and “Hop,” from Universal — have had fewer ticket buyers than did “Shrek the Third,” from DreamWorks Animation, after its release in mid-May four years ago.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” appears poised to become the biggest animated hit of the year so far; but it would have to stretch well past its own predecessor to beat “Shrek Forever After,” another May release, which took in $238.7 million last year.
For the weekend, “The Hangover: Part II” sold $118 million from Thursday to Sunday, easily enough for No. 1. “Kung Fu Panda 2” was second. Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” was third with $39.3 million for a new total of $152.9 million. “Bridesmaids” (Universal Pictures) was fourth with $16.4 million for a new total of about $85 million. “Thor” (Marvel Studios) rounded out the top five with $9.4 million for a new total of $160 million.
Studio chiefs acknowledge that the industry needs to sort out its 3-D strategy. Despite the soft results for “Kung Fu Panda 2,” animated releases have continued to perform well in the format, overcoming early problems with glasses that didn’t fit little faces. But general-audience movies like “Stranger Tides” may be better off the old-fashioned way.
“With a blockbuster-filled holiday weekend skewing heavily toward 2-D, and 3-D ticket sales dramatically underperforming relative to screen allocation, major studios will hopefully begin to rethink their 3-D rollout plans for the rest of the year and 2012,” Mr. Greenfield said on Friday.
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Jim Henk
Master Film Handler
Posts: 364
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 05-30-2011 04:24 AM
To quote Bill Clinton, "It's the economy, stupid."
Historically, the movie industry has come out with all kinds of innovations. Cinerama, Cinemascope, 70mm, Dolby, and on and on. But did they charge a higher amount to experience these new sensations? No. And attendance soared.
Today, they come out with something new, AND charge outrageous prices for it. (while the regular house next door charges the same old prices)
This is called cancelling yourself out.
I've talked to a lot of people and everyone who says they don't want to see a movie in 3D says the same thing. Ticket price is too high. Same reason they say they won't pay to see it in IMAX. It's the ticket price.
Only.
But I hear you say, "But the quality of the film itself..."
No. Maybe for you, but for them, it's the ticket price.
Only.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 05-30-2011 02:55 PM
I think some in the press are jumping to conclusions and, very typically, over simplifying the situation. Around half a dozen factors are at work in making some of the movies in this year's summer movie season not do so well.
The economy is still largely in the toilet.
Sure, the stock market is up. However living costs for many Americans have been going the roof lately and most have not seen their wages keep pace with the price hikes. Food, fuel, utilities and other necessities have seen very serious inflation. Economists don't count that stuff as part of the "core inflation" figure which makes their claims of our economy having a low inflation level a very rose colored glasses kind of view. The credit market is still very tight and millions of Americans are "underwater" on their home mortgages. They have no equity to borrow against. A lot of Americans are looking at various expenses they can cut back or eliminate. Eventually they have to cut back on leisure and entertainment expenses. The recession for America may be finished, but it still persists for a lot of people on a personal level. They may still be unemployed or underemployed.
I think more and more people are indeed growing tired of the very high ticket prices for 3D, premium seating, fake IMAX, etc.
The bigger problem is too many of the movies being released are utter shit. I have little if any desire to see many of the movies being released this summer, whether they're in 3D or not. Some have a "I'll wait for the Blu-ray" or "wait for it on HBO" vibe while others seem like a complete waste of time. Roger Ebert wrote an article recently about the record number of sequels, remakes and other derivative off-shoots being released this year. I'm normally a big Pixar fan, but even I have a sort "meh" attitude about the upcoming Cars sequel.
The movie industry is arguably getting more competition from other activities and alternative sources of entertainment. I think the video game industry is eroding some of Hollywood's business. Lots of adults spend a great deal of time playing them while it was mostly a thing just for kids 20 years ago. The games aren't cheap either (around $60 for new titles). So that sticks people into an either-or situation on what to buy. They may not be able to afford both new movies at the theater and new games. Prices for cable/satellite TV have been going up quite a lot in the last few years. Smart phone service isn't cheap. Neither is a decent residential Internet connection. The cost of all that stuff is badly stretching too many wallets.
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