|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Who Is Installing Digital Projection For "Chicken Little"?
|
|
|
Joseph L. Kleiman
Master Film Handler
Posts: 380
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Apr 2005
|
posted 10-05-2005 10:25 AM
FROM THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 10/6/05:
TOP 3 EXHIBS ROLL WITH REAL D
By Nicole Sperling
After months of haggling and deal brokering, the country's top three theater chains have either signed or are about to sign five-year contracts with digital 3-D provider Real D for 3-D exhibition. Its system will be in place in time for next month's release of Walt Disney Pictures' "Chicken Little," which proved to be a tipping point for the agreements.
Real D has completed deals with AMC Entertainment and Loews Cineplex and is in final negotiations with Regal Entertainment Group.
By adopting Real D's technology in advance of the release of Disney's first homegrown CGI-animated film, which bows Nov. 4, the exhibition community is making one of the first tentative steps in the rollout of digital cinema.
Real D said the participation of the top three exhibitors, in addition to several smaller chains, will result in 85 locations where "Little" can be screened in 3-D. Excluding Regal, 20 chains have signed on.
The list of exhibitors now on board also includes the Boston-based National Amusements theater chain, which intends to install 10 systems in its circuit, as well as Century Theatres, headquartered in San Rafael, Calif. Century declined comment on the number of systems it will employ.
Absent from the list are such top 10 exhibitors as Cinemark USA and Carmike Cinemas.
The 85 systems matches the number announced by Disney Studios chairman Richard Cook when he discussed plans for "Little's" rollout at a demonstration of its 3-D footage Sept. 22.
Neither Disney nor technology partner Dolby Labs, which is responsible for the digital cinema servers and the system integration, would confirm the exhibitor list provided by Real D.
Regal is in negotiations to install 15 projectors across its circuit, according to sources involved in the deal. AMC has confirmed that it will install two systems, one in its Willowbrook 24 theater in Houston and the other in the Town Center 20 location in Kansas City, Mo. Loews is expected to install eight systems.
The smaller circuits, which have long been looking for a way to distinguish themselves from their competitors, appear even more eager to adopt the new technology.
Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures has signed an agreement to install the systems in nine of its theaters. The 5-year-old theater circuit has been trying to differentiate itself from such larger competitors as Cinemark and AMC by offering consumers a unique moviegoing experience.
"Real D is the first truly transforming technology to meaningfully enhance the moviegoing experience," Rave president and CEO Tom Stephenson said. "Digital cinema is nothing without 3-D -- 3-D is the killer app for digital cinema."
Said Real D chairman Michael Lewis: "Real D is the next step in the evolution of cinema. It provides our exhibition partners with premium entertainment experiences that can't be duplicated at home."
The 3-D implementation was first announced by Disney, Dolby and Real D in advance of the CinemaExpo convention in Amsterdam (HR 6/27). At the time, the companies said they would install 100 systems in the top 100 markets, even though they had no advance commitment from the exhibition community. Since then, reps from the three companies have haggled long and hard with exhibitors, who have been reluctant to commit to extra expenditures for new technology when the prospective financial returns are unknown.
Dolby and Real D negotiated separate contracts for the systems. Sources said Real D's contract requires a $50,000 upfront payment, primarily for the installation of its silver screen, and $25,000 a year for five years. However, if the flow of 3-D product -- at this point confined to "Little" and Sony Pictures' release of "Monster House" in summer 2006 -- does not remain constant, then deal points with Real D will be renegotiated, sources said. The industry projection is for three to four 3-D films a year.
In contrast, Dolby has required exhibitors to sign 10-year contracts with the San Francisco-based tech company. Dolby is fronting most of the costs of installing its digital system, which costs about $85,000 per screen. Distributors will pay Dolby a virtual print fee of $1,200 per screen per movie. The exhibitors remain in negotiations with Dolby over maintenance contracts and warranty issues for the equipment, sources said.
Another challenge holding up the 3-D installation is the number of digital 2K projectors ready for deployment. Dolby already has announced that it purchased all 50 of Christie's available digital projectors.
Sources said the breakdown for deployment is 51 Christie projectors and 34 Barco systems -- all the stock available in North America.
Real D hopes to announce additional exhibition partners in the coming months as it works toward its goal of equipping more than 1,000 screens globally with Real D systems over the next two years.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 10-05-2005 09:40 PM
Once those 2K systems (effectively similar to 1080 HDTV) are installed, I doubt if they'll be running much, if any, 3D content.
I think 3D movies are cool. But they only seem to work for things like IMAX-3D shows. The 30 to 50 minute run time for those kinds of large format movies tend to work better in 3D.
Why? Not many audiences can stand to watch a movie in 3D for up to 2 hours or more. When you watch a movie in 3D you're doing something phyiscally unnatural to your eyes. Normally your focal plane and convergence point in eyesight are tied together. They're separated when you watch a 3D movie. You focus on the screen. The point of convergence jumps in front of or behind the screen. Many people will get eye strain or even a full blown headache after watching an hour of that.
3D has also taken a step backward since most movie theaters don't have the right kind of screens to do the right kind of 3D.
It's not difficult for a 100% CGI-based cartoon to be produced in 3D. Very few, if any, live action movies will be made that way. I know George Lucas is working on a 3D version of "Star Wars," but I'm not convinced at this point it will look convincing. Without two discrete camera views of the original action the artificially produced 3D will have subjects looking like flat cut outs floating above a background. That won't be very good.
Without the 3D angle, I'm sure the movie companies and theaters that ponied up the cash for the projection systems will shout "DIGITAL!!!!" Yeah, digital, sure. A 1080p native rez HDTV monitor does an audience just as good.
Show me 4K. Some me something I can't get at home. Then that will at least be something.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester
Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004
|
posted 10-06-2005 05:41 AM
We currently have the one DLP, in #17. For Chicken Little, we're getting one more, for #15. The preliminary install wiring and port glass stuff is currently underway. The Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21 ... two DLP's, one IMAX ... we rule Orange County!
quote: Bobby Henderson
Weren't the original IMAX-3D laser controlled goggles battery powered?
They were, indeed, battery powered, but they were infrared, not laser. The glass in them was polarized, so they would work without a battery (should it die in the middle of a show, and if the projector ran with polarizers, too). The batteries powered the liquid crystal flicker, that was timed to the projector shutter system. It did a fantastic job eliminating ghosting, but I guess it wasn't worth the $600 or so per headset. Simply polarized disposable paper pieces of junk, handed out at box office, are a much better financial decision, it appears, to those in control.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 14 pages: 1 2 3 4 ... 12 13 14
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[beer]](graemlins/beer.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic