Are 3D movies losing appeal?

According to an analyst as reported by the Home Media Magazine, it looks like 3D movies are losing their appeal. Judging by the latest sales figures of Pirates of the Caribbean – the movie has been doing pretty well in the box office. But of the revenue made by the movie – only 38% was from ticket sales of the movie in 3D.  Compared to movies released in the same period back in May 2010 – Shrek Forever’s 3D revenue made up 54% and How To Train Your Dragon’s was 57%.

Analyst, Richard Greenfield attributes this decline in 3D sales as moviegoers getting tired of the format. He claims that if the latest Pirates movie was pushed in 2D instead of 3D, overall attendance and popcorn sales would have increased. He also claims that movies like Pirates should outperform in 3D due to its “fanboy” demographic focus, as opposed to animated/family cartoons that have young children who aren’t interested in wearing 3D glasses.

While he does have some valid points in his analysis, did he ever take into account that he was comparing a live action movie with a fully animated movie? Fully animated movies are usually experienced better in stereoscopic 3D (if they are done right), and it’s unsurprisingly more people opted to watch those animated films in 3D instead of the latest Pirates. And since the animated movies are family oriented, it also usually means there will be a larger crowd due to the fact that kids can’t enter cinemas by themselves whereas movies like Pirates are targeted at older audiences who don’t need to watch it with adult supervision. It could also be due to the fact that people might just be bored with the whole Pirates franchise.

Either way, I believe that while 3D won’t completely dominate the theater and become the “default” way to watch movies, it’s not going to disappear either. There is a time and place for it, and it does help enhance certain movies. And some folks will want to enjoy 3D movies once in awhile just to break away from watching regular 2D movies all the time.

What are your thoughts on 3D cinema? Are you getting tired of it or do you wish that every movie could be in 3D?

George Wong
Categories: General
Tags: 3D, cinema, glasses