Group Says 3D Doubles 2D Opening Weekend Box Office Revenue

Opening weekend 3D ticket revenue is outpacing 2D ticket sales by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a new report. The report, released by The International 3D Society, states that Alice in Wonderland generated more than $81 million dollars, or 70%, of its opening weekend gross revenue on 3D screens, compared with $34 million in 2D domestic ticket revenue. The report said the percentages for Avatar were even higher, with $62 million, or 80%, of its first weekend gross ticket sales revenues of $77 million generated from 3D theaters, compared with $14 million in 2D theaters. Indeed, the Motion Picture Association of America earlier this month said the 10% spike in 2009 box office revenue was driven by an 11% surge in higher-margin 3D revenue from 20 major studio releases in the format. The year ended with 16,000 digital screens globally, including nearly 9,000 3D screens, three times the number of 3D screens in 2008 and representing 6% of total screens worldwide. The trend is expected to continue March 26 with the 3D/2D theatrical release of How to Train Your Dragon, from DreamWorks Animation. “While this study is just a snap shot of what opening weekend's 3D grosses look like, these kinds of trends do reflect that consumers are obviously thrilled by 3D,” said Jim Chabin, president of The International 3D Society. http://www.homemediamagazine.com/3-d/group-says-3d-doubles-2d-opening-weekend-box-office-revenue-18851
2010-03-27 14:11:12