At the NAB convention in April in Las Vegas a few Hollywood studio executives graced the Digital Cinema Summit with their presence to push hard for stereoscopic 3D. And yet at the ShoWest convention same city earlier the same month there was a different kind of push as executives from Fox announced that they would no longer subsidize the cost of disposable 3D glasses. Confused? Don’t be. The Hollywood studios want what they want and they want it on their own terms. The rationale for all of this is of course money. And the ultimate battle could be over Avatar. The Fox announcement that the studio wouldn’t pay the estimated $1 million per movie cost to supply theatres with 3D glasses to support movies like its own Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs due out this summer created quite a stir at ShoWest. But it died down fairly quickly once Regal Cinemas the nation’s largest chain and reportedly several other theatres said that if that happened they would only show the movie in 2D. At which point Fox backed down. And that was that or was it? The best guess here is probably not. For months the studios have been pushing back against their original deal to subsidize the digital cinema rollout. The worsening economy has only made them more aggressive. It’s especially telling that no one in the industry wants to go on the record about the Fox threat even though for now in theory at least it’s been resolved. If there was anyone at the convention that was pleased by the Fox announcement it had to be Dolby which had prepared to announce a limited-time buy-one-get-one-free Dolby 3D Glasses offer for exhibitors installing a new Dolby 3D Digital Cinema system. The special promotion will run through May 22nd. The promotion was designed to coincide with the North American release of Disney/Pixar’s Up on May 29th and provides exhibitors around the world who purchase and install a Dolby 3D Digital Cinema system during the promotional period with an opportunity to purchase eco-friendly reusable Dolby 3D glasses at this special price. “Movie theatre owners around the world are excited by the advantages the Dolby 3D Digital Cinema solution provides given its superior presentation and environmentally friendly 3D glasses ” says John Carey vice president worldwide sales products and services Dolby Laboratories. “This offer builds upon Dolby 3D’s already cost-effective solution and we look forward to expanding the number of Dolby 3D screens to satisfy the growing consumer demand for high-quality 3D screenings.” Mark Zoradi president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group says “After many successful Disney Digital 3D film releases on Dolby 3D systems we couldn’t be happier with their technology and eco-friendly reusable glasses solution. With more than 17 upcoming new Disney Digital 3D films starting with Disney/Pixar’s Up on May 29 we’re excited that Dolby has chosen to make such a compelling sales offer of their 3D systems to exhibitors worldwide.” According to Dolby the list price on their 3D glasses to movie theatres is $27.50 a pair. The buy-one-get-one free offer cuts the cost in half. Dolby says the glasses can be washed 500 times which gives the half-price glasses an actual cost of less than three cents per pair. Page Haun Dolby’s senior director digital cinema marketing says the buy-one-get-one free offer generated an unusually high amount of interest at ShoWest but that the results won’t be known for a while. The purchase of 3D glasses is an out of pocket expense for exhibitors tied specifically to release dates she says and exhibitors typically wait until the very last moment to act. “We’ll see more sales in May ” says Haun. “We’ll see a lot in the coming two weeks.” A few weeks after ShoWest industry people gathered in Vegas again to take part in the annual Digital Cinema Summit an event that was dominated by upbeat conversations about the future of 3D in theatres and in the home. The Hollywood studios have many reasons to be bullish about digital stereoscopic 3D. In this the first phase of digital stereoscopic 3D audiences are paying record amounts in theatres on 3D movies because the Wow factor is still quite strong. Once that fades – and it will fade – the studios understand that stereoscopic 3D Blu-Ray disks promise a new wave of revenue from the home theatre market. And the studios are convinced that 3D is more difficult to pirate. “In the last 80 years of filmmaking innovation is usually a fad until a few things happen ” Disney’s Zoradi a keynote speaker at the Summit said. “One people look beyond the technology and they lose themselves in the rich stories. Two the technology is available enough for everyone to enjoy. And three there’s a string of proven successes to justify the cost associated with the big paradigm shift. Today is an exciting time for theatrical because all three boxes are coming into alignment.” But the Fox threat is clearly not just going to go away. And this week in the wake of the Fox 3D threat Dolby’s Carey issued a formal statement: “In the event studios decide to discontinue supplementing the cost for disposable glasses Dolby wants to ensure exhibitors that there are alternatives. Deciding to go with a Dolby 3D system provides exhibitors with a reusable glasses solution. Since the glasses can be washed hundreds of times they are not only environmentally friendly but the cost per viewing can reduce the cost of the glasses down to cents per pair. The Dolby 3D system not only provides a premium viewing experience but our glasses are high-performance passive glasses that require no batteries or charging. With our current buy one pair get one free promotion for Disney/Pixar’s Up movie Dolby brings even more cost savings to exhibitors looking to install a new Dolby 3D system.” Predictions are always risky but I’ll make one here: The Fall of 2009 promises to be a watershed period in the digital cinema transition and the angry debates that occurred at ShoWest will be matched by angrier confrontations at ShowEast 2009. I say this because by the end of summer we should be seeing the first installations of digital screens resulting from the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners deal and we will also be seeing the early preview trailers for Fox’s major tent-pole event of the year – Avatar. Avatar is the underlying issue for Fox regarding the cost of 3D glasses that and the degree to which it has placed its corporate hopes on the James Cameron live-action 3D movie that is as they say eagerly anticipated around the world. There are reports that the production budget on Avatar has already surpassed $200 million; the original May release date has been pushed back until December. It’s safe to say that Avatar had better deliver. It has been widely reported that Avatar will be a 3D-only release which means any threats by exhibitors not to show it will be pointless. As one veteran exhibitor who’s mid-size chain of theatres has been all digital for a few years told me off the record: “The battle royale is going to be this December over Avatar.” Fox may well win any battle over Avatar but in the end exhibitors will occupy the power seat. Enjoy your summer.
