Depending on how you look at it, 3D has either been a huge part of the summer box office ... or not.
There were five digital 3D movies on the docket this summer, three of which have already opened: Disney/Pixar's "Up," Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and Disney's "G-Force."
Coming up before summer's end are Disney’s sports documentary “X Games 3D: The Movie” (Aug. 21) and Warner Bros./New Line’s thriller “The Final Destination” (Aug. 28).
And while only the opening 13 minutes of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" were in 3D, the blockbuster increased the visibility of the format this summer through its relationship with IMAX.
The impact of 3D on each specific film's final gross is inarguable. 3D screens accounted for an estimated 51 percent of the domestic gross of “Up,” 47 percent of “Ice Age” and 54 percent of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s “G-Force.”
Two of the three films will land in the top 10 once the summer is tallied: "Up” is the second highest grossing movie of the year with close to $287.4 million. “Ice Age 3” maintains the number seven spot with $187.9 million.
(Incidentally, just ahead of “Ice Age 3” is another 3D title, Dreamworks Animation’s March release, “Monsters Vs. Aliens,” with $198 million.)
But a look at the overall box office shows that the format is still merely a blip on the overall distribution screen. Through Tuesday, summer box office currently stands at $3.6 billion, down almost 1 percent from last year at this time.
The numbers demonstrate that moviegoers remain interested in -- and even are willing to pay a premium for -- 3D. But they also underscore the challenges of the still-limited amount of product and number of digital 3D screens available.
Exhibitors -- facing today’s tough economic climate -- continue to try to raise financing for a wider deployment. There are currently a little more than 1,600 3D-ready digital theaters in North America, representing nearly 2,500 screens
“The number of 3D films have increased at a much greater rate than the number of 3D screens, that’s the issue today,” said Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros. domestic distribution. “(Exhibitors) are trying. It is a very tough marketplace. They will get it done, and when they do you will see the number of 3D movies expand as well.”
So as deployment of digital 3D projection capabilities is steadily rising, these releases should have slightly more 3D venues available than their predecessors.
A look back at 2009's summer 3D hits:
Disney/Pixar’s “Up”
When the summer’s first digital 3D release opened on May 29, it played at 3,766 theaters, including 1,534 3D venues. 3D represents an estimated 54 percent of the total gross.
“Up” soared with the majority of the available 3D screens until “Ice Age 3” opened on July 1. Figures suggest that “Up” held an estimated 500 3D locations over that weekend, but it lost more than 1,000.
