Sooner or later it was bound to happen. After all, 3D movies have topped the North American box office for nine out of 13 weeks this year. And 3D films like “Avatar” and “Alice In Wonderland” have generated record breaking grosses, far beyond industry expectations. With more and more moviegoers showing up for 3D content, it should come as no surprise that at some point the public, not to mention the media, was going to start noticing the extra USD $3 they were forced to pay for the latest multi-dimensional blockbuster. In fact, after this past week the industry may begin to face some consumer backlash at the 3D surcharge, especially since a handful of large U.S. theatre chains raised 3D and 3D Imax ticket prices as much as 26% in some locations.
We’ll get to a few reasons as to why exhibitors might be raising ticket prices during an economic recession and what it might mean for the industry as a whole before the end of this post, but first lets go over the history of this recent increase.
Lauren A.E. Shuker and Ethan Smith of the Wall Street Journal were the first to report the price hikes on Wednesday, causing a rash of similar news stories to surface by Friday. The original source of the news about price increases came from a research report released on Wednesday by Richard Greenfield, a media analyst for BTIG, an institutional brokerage and financial services company.
Mr. Greenfield surveyed 10 random theatres in major cities throughout the U.S. and found that on average 2D adult ticket prices rose 4.1% (USD $0.42), 3D non-Imax adult ticket prices increased 8.3% (USD $1.13) and 3D Imax adult tickets were up 9.9% (USD $1.50). Most of the new prices, which varied by theatre took affect on Friday, just in time for the release of Dreamworks Animation’s “How To Train Your Dragon”. Read More »
This past week the digital cinema pipeline into movie theatres in India became a little more narrow – figuratively, not literally or technically. On Thursday Reliance MediaWorks (formerly Adlabs), one of India’s largest entertainment services companies announced a “strategic alliance” with UFO Moviez, a company billed as the world’s largest digital cinema network in the press release.
This is the kind of business news that usually doesn’t make a huge impact whether in trade papers or in the mainstream media. However, it’s actually a significant announcement. What it means is that a most digital content mastering being done for the Indian market will now be conducted under one roof. Besides being the film lab which handles 80% of all Bollywood releases, RMW is also home to one of India’s largest digital intermediate facilities. Previous digital mastering for pan-Indian films was split between the two companies with RMW handling JPEG200 DCI content and UFO taking care of non-DCI e-cinema content.
Real Image is another company offering digital mastering in India, handling both d-cinema and e-cinema to support the sale of its servers for both markets. What the alliance between RMW and UFO does is swing the balance of digital mastering work squarely in RMW’s favor while leaving a question mark over the future of Real Image’s mastering efforts.
Under the agreement UFO will set up an additional encoding and encryption facility on RMW’s premises and effectively turn over the work to their new partner. Read More »
Both at ShoWest and in the weeks leading up to the conference, I was able to speak with some of the folks over at Texas Instruments working on the company’s digital cinema offerings. They were happy to report that development of their 4K chip was right on schedule and some of the first 4K DLP projectors should be available for purchase in the first part of 2011, if not a little sooner.
For those who are just tuning into our industry, TI is the group that has been making DLP chips for cinemas since 1999. Each DLP chip is an array of 2.2 million microscopic mirrors that move and rotate at high speeds to reflect the appropriate light and provide 2K image. Projectors based on the company’s DLP digital micromirror device (DMD) have been installed on over 19,000 movie theatre screens worldwide, giving them at least 90% of the digital cinema install base.
However, last year for the first time TI’s dominance in the market was threatened when two of the world’s largest cinema chains, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, announced they would be installing Sony’s 4K digital cinema projectors. While the DCI spec may only call for 2K, the marketing advantage of 4K was hard to overcome with exhibitors who were looking for a future-proof solution. So in June of last year TI announced they would be developing a 4K DLP chip for their OEM manufacturers, which include Barco, Christie and NEC. No development timeline or release date for the new chip was given. Read More »
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that SmartJog has been on a roll lately when it comes to partnerships? After announcing an agreement with Ymagis in February, they formed a partnership with XDC just before ShoWest and earlier this week entered into a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to deliver digital cinema content.
The agreement with XDC mirrors the one SmartJog signed with Ymagis in that XDC will deploy SmartJog’s technology in theatres it has contracted with. Specifically, each cinema will receive a SmartJog Gateway server which will act as a central library storage device that receives the content. The two companies will integrate their solutions to better automate the delivery of digital cinema content. What wasn’t clear from the press release was whether XDC would eventually integrate SmartJog’s technology directly into their own theatre management system (TMS).
SmartJog’s solution will enable XDC, which operates primarily in Europe, to deliver digital content into its theatres directly from their mastering facility in Liège, Belgium. Additionally, XDC will also be able to deliver content to any of the more than 160 cinema complexes in SmartJog’s digital cinema network throughout Europe. Commenting on the agreement, Fabrice Testa, XDC’s Vice President Sales and Business Development was quoted in the release:
If you’ve never read Patrick Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times, you’re really missing out. Especially this past Tuesday when the subject of his weekly column, The Big Picture, was none other than release windows.
Goldstein has been writing his column for as long as I can remember and it is one of my favorite reads each week. When he started blogging back in 2008, a form of journalism he had previously criticized, I made sure to keep up with his daily posts. As the tagline on his blog states, Goldstein covers the “collision of entertainment, media and pop culture”.
The columnist cites the recent release of “Alice In Wonderland” as a “dramatic tipping point in film history”, but not because its box office success has confirmed that audiences will come to see 3D movies even when they aren’t made by James Cameron. What Goldstein believes earned Tim Burton’s version of “Alice” a place in movie history is that “It finally put the nail in the coffin of movie theater owners’ mindlessly stubborn resistance to shorter DVD windows.”
In case readers weren’t paying attention to the recent tussle over “Alice’s” DVD release window, Goldstein fills them in on the history of Disney’s decision to release the film on DVD only three months after its theatrical bow. He then goes on to detail the record breaking box office returns the film earned; biggest U.S. non-sequel opening weekend of all time with USD $116 million and a current worldwide gross of USD $366.2 million. Given the amount of press coverage over Disney’s disputed release plans for “Alice” Goldstein figures most audiences knew the film was being released on DVD in just 12 weeks. Read More »
The National Association of Theatre Owners president, John Fithian, and the outgoing chairman of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, Dan Glickman, trumpeted 2009′s record breaking box office grosses as well as advances in piracy protection during their annual “State of the Industry” address at ShoWest on Tuesday. What seemed more important to everyone in attendance however was that the speech marked the last appearance by Glickman as the head of the MPAA.
Not that Glickman plans on disappearing entirely. As he put it moments before walking onstage to deliver his remarks, “It may not be my last time at ShoWest, hopefully it is not. John has promised to invite me every year, but it’s my last time in this job.” Glickman is leaving his post April 1st to take over as head of the non-profit organization Refugees International.
Of course, technically this will be the last time Glickman attends ShoWest since NATO will be taking the show over next year and changing its name to CinemaCon. Glickman may not have to worry about getting an invite though, for Fithian had nothing but kind words to say about him. “He really has contributed an amazing amount of leadership and support to this industry over the last six years, from intellectual property to the ratings system to opening up new markets oversees,” Fithian said of Glickman. He’s been just a terrific partner. . . he will be sorely missed by those of us in the movie business.”
Speaking of the movie business, it’s apparently doing quite well, at least theatrically. Fithian highlighted the USD $30 billion international box office gross earned in 2009 with USD $10.6 billion coming from North American, an increase of more than 10%. The NATO exec credits the ongoing theatrical success to advances in technology which have allowed for better presentations at modern luxury cinemas and the ease of purchasing tickets on mobile devices or online. Studios were also major contributors by spreading out their releases according to Fithian:
On the first day of this year’s ShoWest, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has made it known that when they take back the event next year it will undergo a name change to CinemaCon. The logo being used for the annual convention of theatre owners and movie distributors can be seen above.
ShoWest (which is taking place in Las Vegas now through March 19th) was originally NATO’s annual trade show. The group still co-produces the event, however ten years ago they contracted with the Sunshine Group to actually organize and run it. Since then, the Sunshine Group was purchased by Nielsen Business Media who ran the conference as a for-profit endeavor. In 2008, NATO announced it would launch it’s own convention in 2011, once the contract for ShoWest expired. Since the ShoWest name is now owned by Nielsen, NATO had to come up with a different moniker.
In talking with NATO spokesman Patrick Corcoran about the new show he stated, “By running a new non-profit convention, NATO can provide greater value at lower costs to theater industry. Having a show run by and for the industry allows us to celebrate and promote moviegoing in a way that benefits the industry and our customers.”
NATO’s president, John Fithian, echoed Corcoran’s comments during a press conference held early Tuesday morning, just before his annual State of the Industry address:
The 2010 edition of ShoWest, the annual gathering of theatre owners and distributors, kicked off in Las Vegas earlier today with a keynote address from Michael Lynton. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment had both junk and theatrical release windows on his mind, and not necessarily in that order.
After opening his remarks with some cheerleading over 2009′s record breaking box office returns, Lynton detailed why he believed the industry was doing so well in the midst of a deep recession:
“People battered by the recession see in movies reasonably priced escapism. It is the most affordable way to take a break, get out of the house, take the kids or get away from them and be transported to another world.”
Lynton pointed to the industry’s willingness and ability to change as being one of the prime factors for increased theatrical revenue over the past year. Despite economic, social and technologic challenges, he praised both exhibition and distribution’s willingness to find new ways to overcome challenges and prosper.
But Lynton wasn’t all smiles. He highlighted the increasing economic difficulties faced by studios this past year. At the height of the DVD boom in 2005 and 2006 57% of Sony’s revenues came from DVD rentals and another 43% came from DVD sell-through, but today, thanks in large part to the recession, that split is nearing a 75% – 25% split. Read More »
It’s fitting that on the eve of theatrical exhibition trade show Showest—and as DCIP claimed its long-awaited funding—Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” topped the weekend box office during its second week in release and demonstrated the continued strength of 3D.
Alice earned an estimated $62 million, extending its domestic haul to $208.6 million, according to weekend box office figures announced Sunday by Rentrak and its Box Office Essentials theatrical box office data collection and analytical service.
Tim Burton’s fantasy played in 3,728 locations, and of course included a digital and Imax 3D release.
Many insiders believe this wildly successful start—Burton’s most successful do date—is t least in part due to the “Avatar effect.” And insiders suggest that 3D can account for roughly 80% of the “Alice” box office figures.
But “Alice” is not likely to benefit fully from this bump, as Dreamworks Animation’s “How To Train Your Dragon” is set to open March 26, taking the majority of the 3D screens. This of course is not a new concern, but it only becomes more pronounced as box office numbers climb to record heights and tentpole titles demonstrate staying power.
“Dragon” of course has a similar problem, with the opening of the 3D “Clash of the Titans” on April 2, when the industry will get its first look at a film entirely converted to 3D by Prime Focus.
“Alice” was lensed in 2D, and the live action scenes were converted to 3D by companies including In-Three and Legend Films. The film’s lead VFX house, Sony Picture Imageworks, handled the 3D conversion for the CG Wonderland environment that makes up the majority of the run time.
According to Rentrak estimates, the top five in the domestic market included the debuts of “Green Zone” with $14, 5 million, “She’s Out of My League” with $9.6 million, and “Remember Me” with $8.6 million. “Shutter Island” rounded out the top five with $8.1 million, giving the film a new domestic total of $108 million. “Avatar” continued to perform, earning an estimated $6.6 million, for a new domestic total of $730.3 million.
Sooner or later it was bound to happen. After all, 3D movies have topped the North American box office for nine out of 13 weeks this year. And 3D films like “Avatar” and “Alice In Wonderland” have generated record breaking grosses, far beyond industry expectations. With more and more moviegoers showing up for 3D content, it should come as no surprise that at some point the public, not to mention the media, was going to start noticing the extra USD $3 they were forced to pay for the latest multi-dimensional blockbuster. In fact, after this past week the industry may begin to face some consumer backlash at the 3D surcharge, especially since a handful of large U.S. theatre chains raised 3D and 3D Imax ticket prices as much as 26% in some locations.
Both at 
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that 
It’s fitting that on the eve of theatrical exhibition trade show Showest—and as DCIP claimed its long-awaited funding—Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” topped the weekend box office during its second week in release and demonstrated the continued strength of 3D.
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