[Variety]
Research indicates international markets, homevid will drive revenue from format
The conventional wisdom may be that 3D is struggling mightily at the B.O., but research presented at Tuesday’s 3D Entertainment Summit suggests that pics in the format are simply performing with the same sort of varying results as 2D releases.
“We’re seeing a larger difference in the box office 3D ratio,” Charlotte Jones, senior analyst, cinema, for IHS Screen Digest told Variety. “We’re seeing some impressive results and some not-so-impressive results. It really is depending on how individual titles perform, and how well those titles are marketed in 3D, how well those titles are produced in 3D, and
how well audiences respond to them in 3D. The end result is that 3D has reached a maturity. It no longer has its novelty value, and each title therefore needs to be judged on its own merits.” …
During her onstage presentation at the Hollywood and Highland Center, Jones predicted the format will be an important part of a fast-changing entertainment landscape over the next few years.
With the number of digital cinema screens world set to reach 46,500 by year’s end, up by about a third from the end of 2010, “We are now approaching the tipping point for digital cinema,” Jones said. “Over the next month or two, the majority of the world’s installations will be digital.” …
Jones and IHS Screen Digest head of video Helen Davis Jayalath also discussed the fast-growing 3D TV space. There are some 30 dedicated 3D TV channels worldwide, five in France alone. Gallic 3D channels are on the IPTV platform and all include adult content. Jones said next year’s Olympics coverage “could be a watershed for live 3D broadcast, on the order of ‘Avatar.'”
Jayalath, looking at the question of whether anyone is watching that 3D content, said that while total homevideo revenue is likely to decline by 20% through 2015, Blu-ray in general and 3D Blu-ray will make up a bigger and bigger part of the homevideo stream.
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