Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008 - (Page 6)

NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com Movies in 3-D Gaining Ground By Charlotte Jones igital 3-D has become a major driver for movie theaters to convert to digital cinema, and has potential in the home entertainment arena for the NEWS long term. ANALYSIS Unlike earlier versions seen in the 1950s and 1980s, this time 3-D isn’t a gimmick. Advances in digital cinema technology have produced a high quality, immersive experience, without any of the previous side effects such as headaches and nausea. The difference is in the functionality of digital cinema projectors that offer a higher refresh rate between the two complementary eye images. Any (digital) screen can then add the 3-D upgrade, which consists of additional hardware, 3-D glasses and, if necessary, the installation of a silver screen at a relatively small incremental cost. Although film distributors were the initial beneficiaries of digital cinema (through savings on film print costs and better protection against piracy), the new incremental revenue stream 3-D is generating has made the transition to digital more attractive to cinema operators. As all 100,000 modern screens worldwide ultimately will be digitized, there is potentially D AVERAGE PERFORMANCE OF TITLES BY SCREEN IN U.S. OPENING WEEKEND 30 25 20 x2.8 15 10 5 0 Chicken Little Monster House Meet the Robinsons Beowulf Source: Screen Digest NUMBER OF DIGITAL 3-D CINEMA SCREENS 1500 1250 1000 x3.6 I International I USA x2.6 x2.7 750 500 250 0 2004 2005 2006 H1 2007 2007 Source: Screen Digest a large platform for this technology. At the heart of this newfound momentum is a high-profile slate of 3-D films from U.S. studios, including several major digital 3-D-only releases plus several classics that could be converted into 3-D once there are enough screens to justify a wide release. In 2009, for the first time, a steady supply of films (about 10 3-D titles) and a large enough screen base (about 6,000 globally, with more than 4,000 in the United States alone) will combine to bring the market to relative maturity. Despite the additional investment of up to $15 million to create a film in digital 3-D, over and above existing film budgets, studios are now fully committed to a 3-D future. At the end of 2007, there were a total of 1,292 digital 3-D screens worldwide, a sharp increase from 258 a year earlier and up from 98 screens for the first release (Disney’s Chicken Little) in November 2005. New countries are keen to try the 3-D experience, and there are now 37 territories around the world with digital 3-D cinemas, up from only 12 at the end of 2006. Excitement about the new technology is easy to understand. Exhibitors ture from New Line Cinema, and Disney’s animated Bolt in 2008. I Monsters vs. Aliens is the first of a major 3-D-only slate from DreamWorks Animation starting in 2009 and includes Shrek 4 in 2010. I Avatar, from director James Cameron (Fox), is scheduled for release in December 2009 as the first major 3-D blockbuster, while studio franchises Ice Age III and Final Destination 4 also will be released in 3-D in summer 2009. I Upcoming Event 3-D for the theatrical and home entertainment market is one of a range of topics that will be addressed at PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008, the leading conference for the international home entertainment business, taking place in Paris, April 17-18. For more, see www. peve.screendigest.com. I The lineup of 3-D features includes: I Journey 3-D, a live-action adven- with digital 3-D screens are reaping strong returns on their investments, through a combination of the impressive box office performance of 3-D movies and premium ticket prices. Screen Digest’s analysis of box office results from the first four titles (Disney’s Chicken Little in 2005, Sony’s Monster House in 2006, and in 2007, Meet the Robinsons and Beowulf from Disney and Paramount, respectively) shows that per screen revenue from 3-D screens were on average three times as high as those from the regular 2-D versions during the U.S. opening weekend (see chart above). At the heart of this revenue stream is the ability to charge more for a 3-D movie. U.S. consumers have so far demonstrated their willingness See 3-D, Page 26 MERCHANDISING Slow Week For New Titles Best Buy The Comebacks Fox SRP $29.99 Target $17.99 Wal-Mart $17.97 $19.96 w/National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers Circuit City $19.99 w/$10 off Lake Placid 2 Amazon.com $19.99 $19.99 w/Bachelor Party 2 preview The Invasion Warner SRP $28.98, $35.99 BD $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $19.99 $19.96 $15.97 $19.99 $16.99 $24.95 Blu-ray Daddy Day Camp Sony Pictures SRP $28.95, $38.96 BD $19.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $17.99 $19.96 w/Master of Disguise $15.99 $14.99 $19.99 $26.95 Blu-ray Hannah Montana: One in a Million Disney SRP $19.99 $14.99 $20 for Million and an earlier Hannah video $14.99 $13.96 $6 off purchase of another Hannah CD or video $13.99 By John Latchem t’s always interesting to see which titles different retailers will favor during a slow week for new releases. During the Jan. 29 release week, most of the big chains seemed more interested in earlier titles. Best Buy still had several shelves devoted to Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest, while Circuit City offered $8 off the combined purchase of Saw IV and either 3:10 to Yuma, Good Luck Chuck or War. Many of the chains didn’t even carry all the new releases. New Line’s video game documentary The King of Kong was available only at Best Buy, and First Look’s King of California was hard to come by at Circuit City or WalMart. Other than Best Buy, the chain stores also didn’t have any of the high-def versions of the new releases readily available, either. At the Best Buy in Costa Mesa, Calif., the chain’s unsold DVD exclusives from the past several months are starting to pile up. Best Buy also had sales of Warner TV DVD seasons, and $5 off a combination of two football movies. I 6 Home Media Magazine February 3–9, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.peve.screendigest.com http://www.peve.screendigest.com http://Amazon.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008

Contents News Commentary Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008

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