Celluloid Junkie » Carolyn Giardina

3D is a Wonderland For “Alice” and Exhibitors

March 15, 2010

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.

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Diversified Acquires Cinema India Expo

By Carolyn Giardina

January 21, 2010

Another change is coming in the trade show arena for theatrical exhibition.

Diversified Business Communications—a Portland, Maine-headquartered events, publications and eMedia business—acquired India-based Cinema India Expo, along with PALM Expo, Musician Expo, and the recently launched Info Communica Expo from Infocast Systems.

India-based publications Pro Sound Systems, Studio Systems and Cinema Systems were also acquired though the deal.

The Indian business will operate under the moniker Diversified Communications India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Diversified Business Communications. Heading the unit is Anil Chopra, former CEO of Infocast Systems, who will serve as managing director. Chopra will oversee PALM Expo and Manuel Dias remains the project director. Diversified said it expects the event to expand by nearly 35% from last year.

Createasphere (formerly HD Expo), Diversified’s entertainment division located in Burbank, will be directly involved with Kristin Petrovich-Kennedy, president of Createasphere, overseeing international sales alongside sales manager Brian Henderson.

PALM Expo, co-located with Musician Expo, Cinema India Expo, and Info Communica Expo, takes place 3-5 June at Bombay Exhibition Center.

Posted in Trade Shows

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“New Moon” Shines With $140.7 Million Weekend

By Carolyn Giardina

November 22, 2009

We all knew Summit’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” would have a huge opening. The question was just how huge.
Box Office Mojo answered this question with Sunday estimates that suggest a North American gross of $140.7 million, which would make it the third highest opening weekend of all time, behind “The Dark Knight” and “Spiderman 3.”

It also reports that “New Moon” now holds various records including highest opening day gross, with $72.7 million.

The third film in the Twilight saga, “Eclipse,” is slated to open June 30, 2010.

While the weekend belonged to the vampire romance, Box Office Mojo’s early estimates for additional debuts include: “The Blind Side,” $34.5 million; and “Planet 51,” $12.6 million.

Sunday estimates also show that “2012” climbed to $108.2 million in North America. Disney’s 3D “A Christmas Carol” sits at $79.8 million in its third weekend. And “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” earned $11 million in 629 locations—with a $17,500 per theatre average—for a new total of $21.4 million.

“Precious” has generated a lot of buzz as a likely best picture Oscar nominee. With awards season underway, we’ll be watching the box office numbers for “Precious” and other releases with Academy Awards potential.

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Katzenberg Keynotes 3D Entertainment Summit

By Carolyn Giardina

September 17, 2009

3d-entertainment-summit

Jeffery Katzenberg suggested that if exhibition doesn’t grab the 3D opportunity, “it will go down as one of the real great misses of our time.”

He shared his thoughts about 3D, both for the theater and the home, Thursday at the 3D Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles, during a keynote discussion with Bob Dowling, Summit co-producer and conference chair.

On theater pricing, he said: “Exhibition has been incredibly timid about (pricing). Every piece of research we did showed the consumers felt they got a valuable experience at a $5 premium and almost no one adopted (the premium).”

The Dreamworks Animation CEO commented: “I find it amazingly curious how slow the live action business has been at jumping on this opportunity.” And the 3D champion also admitted that he perhaps went too far in predicting that all content would go 3D, adding that it “dampened his credibility.”

Commenting on Technicolor’s 3D approach, he said: “I’ve seen it in a controlled environment. I’ve yet to see it in a large theater, but the early demonstrations looked pretty good. It’s not ideal but we are in an economy unlike anything we faced in our lifetime. So to me, that’s an interim step.”

Katzenberg noted that theater owners have had a few years head start, but “rollout into the home is going to pick up serious momentum next year.”

During the well attended event, he predicted that sports and games would drive 3D to the home faster than other types of entertainment. As to broadcast, Katzenberg noted that with Disney’s work in the 3D arena, he expects “real leadership” from ESPN.

The two-day event at the Hilton in University City featured a conference program and exhibits from companies including 3Ality Digital, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Sensio and NVidia.

Posted in Events, Trade Shows

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Box Office Review-Sunday 16 August “District 9 Is No. 1″

By Carolyn Giardina

August 16, 2009

The Peter Jackson-produced scifi release “District 9” from TriStar debuted in the North American box office’s top spot this weekend, with an estimated $37 million.
In its second week, Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” was behind it with an estimated $22.5 million; and Warner Bros.’ “The Time Traveler’s Wife” debuted at number three with an estimated $19.2 million.
Another debut in the North American box office this weekend was animation great Hayao Miyazaki’s magical “Ponyo,” released this weekend by Buena Vista, which played in 927 theaters and earned an estimated $3.5 million.
Sunday estimates also suggest that Disney’s “G-Force” added $6.9 million to its gross for a new total of $99 million.
As the 3D guinea pigs of “G-Force” approach $100 million, the final 3D movies of the summer are about to open. Disney’s sports feature “X Games 3D: The Movie” debuts on Aug. 21, followed by Warner Bros./New Line’s thriller “The Final Destination” on Aug. 28.
There are a little more than 1600 3D ready d-cinema theaters in North America and that count has been a factor to watch all summer. Disney’s “Up” surrendered most of its 3D-ready theaters on the weekend that the next 3D release, Fox’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” opened. And “Ice Age” did the same when “G-Force” debuted. North American theater owners charge a premium of roughly $2 to see a movie in 3D.

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London Eye Sees 4D Cinema

By Carolyn Giardina

August 12, 2009

Merlin Entertainment’s London Eye is adding 4D cinema, with a new screening venue and debut short movie.

Designed to excite London Eye-riders, a short movie was written and directed by Julian Napier and stereo 3D produced by Phil Streather, CEO of 3D company Principal Large Format. The film was produced by Centre Screen Productions in association with Principal Large Format and Pablo Post.

“Having a purpose-built theatre for a 3D or 4D film is perfect because getting a film like this right relies a lot on the theatre geometry,” Streather said in a released statement. “The distance of the audience from the screen and the size of the screen itself have an enormous impact on the experience. Knowing the exact dimensions of both the screen and the theatre before we started production meant that we could craft a film that would perfectly fit the space.”

The focus of the four-minute film is a little girl on a day trip to London, whose view of the capital’s many tourist sites is obscured by people and buildings, until she arrives at the London Eye. Read More »

Posted in Large Format, Miscellaneous

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Prime Focus Restructures Management; Adds Rob Hummel

By Carolyn Giardina

August 10, 2009

Industry vet Rob Hummel—who most recently served as president of digital cinema at Dalsa—has been named CEO of Hollywood-based postproduction house Post Logic Studios, a division of India’s Prime Focus.

Post Logic’s Larry Birstock is vacating this position to move into an international role within the organization as president of Prime Focus Global Integration.
“Rob’s deep industry experience and long-standing relationships with Hollywood studios will be an enormous asset to Post Logic Studios and the Prime Focus companies,” said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus, in a released statement. “We’re also thrilled that Larry has moved into a strategic global role within Prime Focus to help us more tightly integrate sales and operations across facilities in India, the UK, Canada and the US.”

Prior to his tenure with Dalsa, Hummel served as SVP, production technology at Warner Bros. There, he oversaw digital restoration work on such films as “Gone With The Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.” Before joining Warner Bros., he held positions including SVP, digital cinema for Sony Corp.; EVP, digital development for Technicolor, and head of DreamWorks Animation Technology, during which time he oversaw the building of the company’s animation technology infrastructure. Hummel also held positions in postproduction, Imagineering, and TV animation at Walt Disney Studios.

Posted in People

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Box Office Review-Sunday 9 August “G.I. Joe” Opens With $56.2 Million”

By Carolyn Giardina

August 9, 2009

gimovie Paramount’s big budget “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” opened with an estimated $56.2 million in the North American box office this weekend, giving it the top spot. Sony’s debut “Julie and Julia” finished second with $20.1 million.
Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s live action/CGI “G-Force”—a digital 3D release—finished third in its third week with an estimated $9.8 million, bringing its estimated domestic total to $86.1 million.
Disney continues to hold the majority of the just over 1600 3D-ready digital cinema venues in the market, and estimates suggest that 3D accounts for more than half of the gross.
sea3d1 Estimates suggest that the weekend top five was rounded out by Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” with $8.9 million and a total gross of $273.8 million; and Universal’s “Funny People” with nearly $7.9 million for a new total of $40.4 million.
There are a few more weeks to go before the final summer 3D releases arrive in theaters. Disney’s “X Games 3D: The Movie” opens Aug. 21, followed by Warner Bros./New Line’s “The Final Destination” on Aug. 28.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. and Imax announced last week that “Under the Sea 3D” will be rereleased in select Imax theaters on Aug. 19.
Last February, “Under the Sea 3D” opened in 49 Imax theaters domestically and three locations internationally and has since grossed more than $15 million in worldwide box office. “Under the Sea 3D” follows 2006’s “Deep Sea 3D,” which has topped $80 million in worldwide box office receipts.

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Box Office Review-Sunday 28 June ‘Autobots Break Records; 3D Challenges Ahead’

By Carolyn Giardina

June 28, 2009

Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was the blockbuster that it was expected to be in its opening week. Meanwhile “Up” soared past “Star Trek” to become the new highest grossing film of the year—and underscores the challenges that this summer’s stereo releases face with a still limited number of 3D screens.
We’ll start this week’s Box Office Review with the Autobots from Paramount/Dreamworks, which topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $112 million. Since opening June 24, it has earned an estimated total of $201.2 million in North America and $387.3 million worldwide.
The only other film to cross $200 million in North America in five days was “The Dark Knight,” which had a five-day total of nearly $203.8 million. As well, Bay’s latest is the biggest Wednesday opening with $60.6 million, passing 2007’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which debuted its magic on a Wednesday with $44. 2 million.
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” looks poised to soon become the highest grossing film of the year in North America.
To that end, Disney/Pixar’s “Up” claimed that title this weekend, the film earned an estimated $13 million to finished fourth for the weekend and to reach a new North American total of roughly $250.2 million, passing leader “Star Trek,” with an estimated $246.2 million.
In its fifth week in release, “Up” continues to play on the majority of the roughly 2,000 3D ready screens in North America, but on Wednesday, July 1, Fox is about to deflate that number with the opening of its digital 3D release “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” Box office numbers for both 3D movies will be something to watch next week.
Also this weekend in North America, estimates suggest that “The Proposal” finished second with $18.5 million for a new total of $69 million in its second week in release; Warner Bros.’s “The Hangover” earned $17.2 million for a total gross of $183.2 million, to finish third in its fourth week; and Warner’s “My Sister’s Keeper” opened at number five with $12 million.

Posted in Box Office

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