3D -- An Excuse for Higher Ticket Prices?
03/21/2007
Presenting a movie in 3D gives studios and exhibitors a means of raising ticket prices significantly without a commensurate increase in production, marketing and distribution costs, a Paramount/DreamWorks distribution executive has suggested. In an interview with the Omeon.com animation news website, Jim Tharp commented, "Theater owners are excited by this technology, because it not only provides a more special movie-going experience but also a meaningful growth opportunity, as research suggests more people come to see 3D movies and ticket pricing has more flexibility." Tharp, who will be overseeing distribution of all DreamWorks Animation features in 3D beginning in 2009, remarked that moviegoers regard attending a 3D feature as "a premium experience." The Disney-owned El Capitan Theater in Hollywood is currently selling tickets online for Disney's forthcoming Meet the Robinsons in 3D for $13.00 for adults and $10.00 per child -- an average 10 percent premium over the theater's regular prices.
Lack of Standards Plagues 3D Digital Distributors
03/15/2007
Since 3D digital projection systems currently installed around the world employ incompatible file formats, studios must now distribute dozens of different versions of their films, Disney's chief of production technology said Wednesday. Speaking to the ShoWest exhibitors convention in Las Vegas, Howard Lukk observed that digital projectors currently use eight different file formats. He noted that, with the addition of numerous language soundtracks, Disney is being forced to create 42 different release prints of its upcoming Meet the Robinsons for about 650 3D digital screens -- a "time-consuming and expensive" process. Lukk said that although the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is working on standardizing 3D digital projection systems, manufacturers of the equipment ought to come together to speed up the process.
Pixar Execs Yank Elton John Film
3/28/2006
Not only have Pixar executives pulled the plug on sequels to their original movies that Walt Disney crews were working on, they have also scotched production of the high-profile animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet being produced by Elton John. The singer/songwriter was also engaged to write the songs for the movie, based on the Shakespeare play, and to allow many of his past hits to be included. Disney said Monday that personnel who were involved in the production of the film had been reassigned to other projects. Disney Co. watcher Jim Hill also reported today (Tuesday) that the Pixar execs have also demanded "radical surgery" on Disney's animated/live-action Meet the Robinsons, "which now makes it rather unlikely that Meet the Robinsons will still be able to meet its scheduled March 30, 2007 release date." Hill concludes that given the wholesale changes the Pixar execs are demanding at Disney, "many folks on the Disney lot aren't thinking all that kindly about their new Pixar overlords anymore."
