RealD and Cinemark are partnering to roll out up to 1,500 additional 3D screens across North America and Latin America, the companies announced Thursday.
The move comes despite fears that the format has fallen out of favor with domestic audiences, after weaker than expected 3D grosses for movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."
It also comes on the heels of comments by 3D boosters such as Jeffrey Katzenberg that Hollywood has jeopardized the format through greed and overuse.
The format's boosters have countered that a lack of 3D screens has cut back on exhibitor's profits domestically. They maintain this summer’s increase in international 3D box office is attributable to a higher percentage of 3D equipped screens in theaters internationally.
Clearly, Cinemark thinks that there's still life left in 3D.
Thursday's agreement doubles the companies’ previous arrangement for a total of up to 3,000 RealD 3D-enabled screens. It means that when the installation is complete, 50 percent of Cinemark auditoriums will by 3D enabled.
