3-D will probably be pushed again for Avatar sequel(s) - how many will be onboard?

[Brad Miller]

It will be interesting to see how many desperate theater owners pour money into getting their 3D systems up and running again when surely if they would just stop for a minute and do the math they would realize the extra money they spend in all likelihood will not pay for itself on the THEORETICAL additional ticket sales by presenting in 3D vs 2D. Remember that no movie has legs anymore, so its not like theaters are going to see months or even weeks of it doing good business. It's quite possible it will have one good weekend and then die.

People that want to see the movie will come to see the movie, and I've found 3D turns more people off than on to a movie. All 3D is good for is destroying the presentation quality for the other 99.9% of movies being presented due to those damned silver screens.

3D just needs to stay dead.

[Gunnar Asgeirsson]

In my opinion the audience doesn't care about 3D at all.
Last time I screened 3D in a commercial cinema the film was available in 3D in one room and in 2D in another so the audience simply could choose if they wanted to see it in 3D or not.

The 2D was way more popular and now when that cinema has installed laser projectors they are not 3D compatible. 3D is dead, even 3D TVs are (as far as I know) discontinued.
And no, I don't thing many cinemas will go for the Avatar 2 in 3D if they are not 3D compatible already.

[John T Hendrickson Jr]

I haven't posted on the forum in years, since the theater I worked at went bellyu up 10 years ago this coming May. Intreresting that just the other day, the former GM of that theater (a lifelong friend) and I were remarking about the fact that 3D had possibly run its course onvce again. We were never happy with it the last time around. I agree with Brad's post above. I really feel for you folks who are still in this industry. I always thought the distributors gave the exhibitors the short end of the stick. I see nothing has changed. It's only gotten worse.

Really wish you all luck.

[Randy Stankey]

...I've found 3D turns more people off than on to a movie. ...

Somewhere, around the house, I've still got two pairs of 3D glasses with the lenses swapped around to make UN-3D glasses.

Except for a few top tier titles where the 3D is part of the story (like Avatar) I don't like 3D at all. For 95% of all movies, I don't want 3D. Even out of the 5% that I do watch in 3D only one or two were worth it, IMO.

There was one 3D movie that was so bad that I don't even remember the title, at all. It was some kind of Three Musketeers knock off.
The 3D effect was obviously synthesized, not actually video recorded in 3D.

To be blunt, I don't even remember very much about the movie at all. The most memorable thing about the whole event was the woman who had an epileptic seizure in the middle of the movie. She was sitting two rows behind me when her husband started hollering because his wife went unconscious.
I had to get up and render first aid then, after that, I had to go out to the lobby to find the manager and tell him to call an ambulance.

By her husband's report, she had no history of epilepsy but, because it was in a dark theater, it was impossible to tell whether she had an honest-to-goodness seizure or a TIA. She was unresponsive for more than a minute and the husband was, understandably, upset and non-communicative.

I told the guy that 3D movies can, on rare occasions, cause a mini-seizure like that but, since she had no history of seizures, it could have been a mini-stroke. If it was a stroke and she didn't go see a doctor, post haste, if she had a second attack, she might not wake up again.

I had to wander a deserted lobby, hunting for the absentee manager and I had to practically yell at him to convince him to call the paramedics. Then, I waited in the lobby for the medics to arrive. We wheeled her out of the auditorium in a wheelchair, into the lobby, put her onto a gurney and they drove her to the hospital.

That's the last I heard or saw of them. I don't even know how things turned out.

Worse, I didn't even work in that theater. They didn't even offer me a free refill on my popcorn.

So... Has anybody else seen or heard of somebody having a seizure while watching a 3D movie?

[Carsten Kurz]

Are there any 3D systems which don't require a silver screen but have disposable glasses? With NEC1200 xenon projector.

No. All passive systems with cheap disposable glasses use silver screens. There are good and bad silver screens, though. Or, better put, bad and not so bad silver screens.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

No one I know that even still has their 3-D equipment installed has any interest, nor have they asked me to see if it's still working.

[William Kucharski]

I've noticed in the advanced ticket sales for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, all the local theater chains - AMC, Cinemark and Regal - are offering 3D showtimes, either IMAX or RealD as appropriate.

As you're in Nashville, that's true for the theater chains I pulled up there, too.

[Marcel Birgelen]

IMAX and Dolby Cinema both have retained their 3D systems and I guess most theater chains have also kept 3D capabilities in their PLF houses. But overall, 3D-readyness has seen a steady decline. While most multiplexes have retained at least one room with 3D capabilities, it wasn't unusual around here to have about half of your screen capacity equipped with 3D a few years ago.

Some smaller venues have since given up on 3D entirely and I can't blame them. I doubt the audience is really asking for 3D, but quite often shows are only available in 3D at a usable timeslot. I know that I and most of the people I know are actively avoiding 3D shows when visiting a theater. I used to have a bunch of "professional" Polaroid 3D glasses compatible with RealD and similar systems, but I don't even know where they are at this point.

[Justin d'Entremont]

We still have a "MasterImage" (acquired by RealD) spinning polarized disk system that's been around for at least 10 years now. While it still works per say, I'm convinced that there is some sort of bearing grease coming from the hub, as it requires cleaning almost every couple of days of use due to a thick oily coating that appears on the disk after running, distinct from the "popcorn oil residue the air" which we experienced years ago. Not even sure if you can still get parts for them / who services them now. Anyone know what a new RealD unit costs?

We played a certain show in both 2D and 3D last week, 3D on our largest screen, and 2D on the 2nd biggest screen, with comparable showtimes (about 30min apart). We had 257 for the 3D shows, and 253 for the 2D shows. A large number of those going to the 2D show will say to us quite clearly that they hate 3D and will avoid going to a movie if it's in 3D. We fought with distributors for years over this (they only wanted us to show 3D shows of their films) but after doing an experiment like this with parallel showtimes a couple of times a few years ago, they all seem more willing to be flexible with us about it now.

[Mike Blakesley]

‘Avatar 2’ Renews Push for 3D Format in Movie Theaters

BY
CAROLYN GIARDINA, PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

The pairing of an exclusive in-theater teaser trailer for James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness proved a significant moment beyond the Marvel movie’s heroic $449 million global opening (including $187 million domestically) during the May 6-8 weekend. Nearly 10 percent of moviegoers in North America opted to pay 20 to 30 percent more for a 3D ticket, an unheard-of jump for a format that many had written off even before the COVID-19 crisis.

No film exemplified the promise of 3D more than 2009’s Avatar, which, with $2.8 billion in global ticket sales, remains the top-grossing film of all time. But in the years that followed, the lure of higher box office returns derailed the 3D train just as it was leaving the station. Now, Disney and 20th Century (and their rivals) hope Avatar: The Way of Water revives the format as a key differentiator. “At a time when people are used to being at home watching content, anything that encourages them to go to theaters has to be a positive for us and the industry in general,” says Disney’s chief of global film distribution Tony Chambers. “It’s all about the experience. If done right, people will come out again and again. The messaging won’t be to see Avatar 2 in 3D but to see it for the experience.”

But moviegoers will have to be re-educated. “We believe 3D creates a more immersive experience in our narrative storytelling. We don’t play 3D as a world coming out of a window. We play it as a window into the world,” Jon Landau, Cameron’s producing partner at Lightstorm Entertainment, says from New Zealand, where Avatar 2 is in post. “We are giving people something that they cannot get anywhere else. We need the exhibition community to be supportive of that and to understand that we are competing with different technologies than are in people’s homes.”

The latest wave of 3D was enabled by the transition from film to digital projection systems. There were some early digital 3D releases for the limited number of supported auditoriums, starting with Disney’s Chicken Little in 2005. And led by format champion Jeffrey Katzenberg, the DreamWorks Animation slate got the 3D treatment starting with Monsters vs. Aliens in 2009.

For many moviegoers, the first time they donned 3D glasses was to see Avatar. The film’s 3D box office share was an astounding 70 percent-plus, helping 3D grosses hit a record $1.85 billion in 2010. But then there was a string of releases like 2010’s Clash of the Titans, which received a rushed 3D conversion to jump on the bandwagon and was widely regarded as a poor experience, souring moviegoers on the format.

“I think what happened is some people got lost, and there’s a period of time where people felt that converting something to 3D made it a better movie; 3D does not change the movie, 3D exacerbates whatever the movie is,” Landau says. “I think that people were doing it as an afterthought to a process, as opposed to [using] 3D as a creative element — no different than lighting, no different than focus, no different than camera movement — that a filmmaker needs to bring a sensibility of how to use that to enhance the narrative storytelling.”

Adds a top studio executive, “Hollywood got greedy like they always do.”

By 2017, 3D domestic grosses tumbled 55 percent from 2010, with many movies earning a scant 17 percent of their revenue from 3D tickets. The downturn prompted Imax — a longtime proponent of the format — to announce it was going to shift away from so many 3D releases. The company was wise. By 2019, 3D revenue was down more than 70 percent from 2010 levels.

“Warming up 3D has to be done thoughtfully and carefully,” says Imax Entertainment president Megan Colligan. “There were a lot of lessons learned. You’re not going to see every movie converted. We are really working with the studios and exhibitors to figure out how to get people used to it again. James Cameron understands the medium — 3D creates a richer, deeper experience when it serves the story. Intention is everything.”

It also helps that consumers are willing to pay a significant upcharge for premium 2D formats, such as Imax. The appetite for these formats has increased throughout the pandemic, including 36 percent of the opening weekend of Doctor Strange 2.

For its part, Disney is offering 3D versions of its event films leading up to Avatar 2, including Pixar’s Lightyear this summer. And Universal’s July tentpole Jurassic World: Dominion will get a major 3D push.

The format is still incredibly popular in some parts of the world: 45 percent of Brazil’s opening weekend grosses for Doctor Strange 2 came from 3D. In Germany, it was 50 percent.

One source says every Hollywood studio needs to do its part if the 3D revival is to work. When the original Avatar came out, the release rewrote the book on presentation quality by creating different versions of the movie (including versions at various light levels, aspect ratios and aimed at different 3D systems) with the goal of ensuring that each theater could show the movie in the best way possible. For Avatar 2, the team is again at work with highly ambitious plans to make many versions for the different theatrical systems.

“We’ve already started the research,” says Landau. “Geoff Burdick (Lightstorm’s senior vp production services and technology) and our team at Lightstorm has been very engaged with both Disney and the exhibition community directly.”

They also have been working with the cinema tech developers.

“Even before the new Avatar trailer was shown at CinemaCon [the theater owners conference held in April], we indeed have seen great interest from exhibition on what new products exist that can elevate the cinema experience,” says Brian Claypool, executive vp cinema at projector maker Christie. “Higher brightness 3D and the capability of supporting higher frame rates in 4K have certainly seen an increase in recent conversations with customers.”

Cinema technology has evolved greatly during the past decade, which also will help elevate each 3D presentation. For instance, 3D glasses may cut down visible light, making the picture darker, but brighter laser projectors can help address this issue. Cameron is also incorporating a high frame rate of 48 frames per second.“Our approach is that a high frame rate is something that creates a better experience, where it gets rid of the artifacts of an archaic frame rate for certain shots. If somebody is sitting there static and just talking to camera, it doesn’t necessarily help,” explains Landau. “We will use it to our advantage, where the high frame rate helps us.”

Theater owners certainly aren’t opposed to a 3D revival, since it also boosts their revenue. “3D is a viable option when it’s well done, but it needs to be an integral part of the storytelling,” says National Association of Theatre Owners vp and chief communications officer Patrick Corcoran. “It is not the answer to everything but cannot be treated as an afterthought.”

Hollywood Reporter article link:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...2bfa97b57f2f60

[Martin Brooks]

The most memorable thing about the whole event was the woman who had an epileptic seizure in the middle of the movie. She was sitting two rows behind me when her husband started hollering because his wife went unconscious.
I had to get up and render first aid then, after that, I had to go out to the lobby to find the manager and tell him to call an ambulance.

By her husband's report, she had no history of epilepsy but, because it was in a dark theater, it was impossible to tell whether she had an honest-to-goodness seizure or a TIA. She was unresponsive for more than a minute and the husband was, understandably, upset and non-communicative.



So... Has anybody else seen or heard of somebody having a seizure while watching a 3D movie?

Probably not, with the possible exception if it was a shutter system. (I have some knowledge of epilepsy). There is such a thing as photo-sensitive epilepsy, but it's usually triggered by flashing lights, like a stroboscopic effect. It's highly unlikely that 3D triggered it, although I haven't checked the medical literature to see if there's any record of it or studies about it. It's probably a coincidence, unless that 3D movie also had a flashing effect and I suppose the brain could have interpreted shutter glasses as such an effect if that's what was in use.

There are many things that can cause seizures and many people who have minor seizures are unaware either because they normally have them only when they're sleeping or because they're so short, they were unaware. When they become Grand Mal seizures, one is aware because the person might have bitten their tongue, come out of it with a very sore body that feels like muscle strain, have an upset stomach or stained their pants. I know someone who had seizures for years, but never realized it until they went camping with friends and were in the same tent together and then realized it in retrospect after seeing a neurologist.

[Leo Enticknap]

I had a saga with one of our service contract sites that had retained working 3-D capability in one of its screens, just in case another movie came along to justify the hassle. It hadn't been used for at least 3-4 years when they decided to play Dr. Strange in 3-D. Of course, during the intervening period the server had been replaced, the ICP had been replaced, etc. etc. - so it took several hours actually to get it up and running again.

I understand that the 3-D shows did very little business, whereas the 2-D version playing in several other houses was very popular. No-one wanted to pay extra to have to sit for nearly three hours wearing uncomfortable spectacles. If that was typical of the country as a whole, it doesn't bode well for the new Avatar pic.

[Steve Guttag]

I have no doubt that Avatar 2 will be one of the larger 3D releases in a while but I don't think it will be anywhere near the phenomenon of the original. It was a new generation to be fascinated with the 3D fad. The masses are over it. There will be a percentage of die-hard 3D fans and they'll rejoice at new high-quality content. I don't expect too many exhibitors to invest too much into this one. Some will go full-tilt with the HFR stuff but I don't expect it will be a huge amount. I also think, depending on the economy, at the time, people are not too interested in playing premium charges any more than they have to and especially not for 3D.

I do also expect there to be some confusion over the HFR 3D part of things and just what everyone is capable of running. We'll see how well they get out in front of this and ensure people that have some form of 3D know just what version they are capable of playing. And, if they are dumb enough to insist at full-tilt HFR or nothing...nothing it will be for most.

[Frank Cox]

I still do 3d for anything that's available in 3d, but I've found that most people around here don't give a rat either way.

If it's 3d, that fine. If it's not, that's also fine.

It doesn't appear to increase or decrease the crowd either way.

[Mike Blakesley]

I will say that the demo at CinemaCon looked dynamite....but that was on the very best equipment under basically the very best of conditions. I came out of it not being "overwhelmed," but with a sense of doubt, which was fueled by the thought that if they really wanted everybody to dive back into 3-D for this movie, they'd have shown us more than a plain-old trailer for it. I was pretty shocked that they went to all that work for JUST a trailer. There HAD to be more footage available than what they showed.

They also said that theaters would have a one-week exclusive on the Avatar trailer, so it could debut with Dr. Strange. Uh, yeah...the trailer debuted online on Monday, after only three days in the theaters.

I mean, the Top Gun screening had everyone talking about that movie for the rest of the convention. The Disney presentation had people talking more about Lightyear than Avatar, or at least that's the vibe I got.

But, as always, never count out the Disney marketing machine.