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New Orleans' Prytania rises up to 3D
Outside of the frozen food section at the supermarket, nothing beats the summer heat quite like a cool (or downright cold) movie theater, and the recently Sony/RealD 4k-equipped Prytania theater in New Orleans just added 3D capabilities to entice viewers some more. No surprise -- Disney's summer blockbuster, Up, was the first talkie to make the leap off the silver screen at the newly outfitted venue, and we suspect that The Prytania -- the only theater in N'awlins to have Up in 3D -- raked in a healthy crowd for its investment. We love to see storied theaters keep up with the times, and this almost 95-year old movie house is no exception.[Thanks, gamedude360!]
Credit crisis hindering 3D expansion in theaters?
We're as tired of the doom and gloom economy talk as you are, but we just couldn't pass this one up. A new report from Bloomberg News has it that the current credit crunch (how's that for a buzzword?) is putting a damper on 3D cinema expansion. Which is quite funny, given the small flood of expansion reports that we've seen of late. Citing Cinedigm Digital Cinema in particular, it notes that plans to convert some 1,500 cinemas to 3D-capable venues have been replaced with plans that include 100 to 200. The lack of available 3D theater options could seriously hinder studios' ability to cash in and make back their own 3D investment; after all, who's really going to drive an hour of their way for a 3D version of a film showing just down the street? In reality, we don't expect this situation to be the rule going forward, but it'll certainly be interesting to see how studios feel about their 3D investments around this time next year.[Image courtesy of U2]
Movie studios & theater operators agree to expand the number of digital, 3D-ready cinemas
Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) -- representing AMC, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas -- has worked out a deal to finance the installation of thousands of digital movie screens starting next year in the U.S. with the help of Lion's Gate, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Disney. Not participating, at least for now, are Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, with the latter expected to announce a separate deal soon involving the installation of Sony 4K SXRD projectors around the world. Key to the deal? "Virtual print" fees, meant to help defray the expect $70,000 cost to switch to 3D-ready digital projection setups, as the studios will kick in the $800 - $1000 they would have spent on old school movie prints to finance the changeover. In the future they save by distributing only digital prints, not to mention having somewhere to show the dozen 3D flicks expected to debut next year. Both sides are betting the $1 billion package will help pull us away from the HDTVs and back into a movie theater, but until they work out a payoff with that one guy who won't stop talking, we're not sure how likely that is.Read - Wall Street JournalRead - ReutersRead - Variety
Dubai begins shift to digital cinemas, ready for 3D goofiness
Reports have already shown that the hunger for HD in the Middle East is rising, and apparently so is the hunger for digital cinema. The Middle East's very first digital cinemas have opened in the desert playground this week, with two screens showing digital versions of the latest Mummy film at Grand Cinema's Grand Festival complex in Dubai Festival City. If plans pan out, Grand Cinema expects to have all of its screens converted to digital within two years, and yes, the third-dimension was mentioned. According to Gulf Films' Jean Ramia (pictured), digital really is "the future of cinema," and now that it's becoming more pervasive, we can expect to see "a lot more 3D films being produced." Goggles up!
Odeon cinemas to play F1 races in HD
Not everyone has an incredible home cinema, but in the UK at least that won't get in the way of a premium high definition experience while watching Lewis Hamilton tear up the F1 circuit. After a test run showing the British Grand Prix last year, Odeon Cinemas is working with Formula One Management to show ten races this season in 25 locations, live and without commercial breaks. The international HD feed and Dolby Surround 5.1 audio will be in full effect, no word on how many quid, pence or pounds this costs but at least it's one way to avoid seeing Sex & the City for the 5th time this weekend.
Can 3D cinemas really take off?
Every so often, a technology manages to get everyone on board at just the right time in order to make a surge. Recently, that technology has been 3D cinema. After titles like Hannah Montana and U2 3D hit the scenes, the buzz swept over ShoWest in Las Vegas and has continued on with announcements that all future DreamWorks Animations productions would be made in 3D and even the NBA dipping its toes into the third-dimension during the regular season. Still, word on the street has the price of bringing a Dolby 3D Digital Cinema experience to theaters between $20,000 and $30,000, and of course, you have to convince viewers to wear those somewhat uncomfortable glasses and probably pay a premium just to sit down. Quite honestly, we still don't see 3D becoming a dominant force in tried and true theaters for years; as amazing as the technology can be when executed perfectly, there's still quite a few detractions holding it down. What say you? Can you imagine a 3D theater or two popping up in your local Cineplex? Would you even go if it happened?[Via AboutProjectors, image courtesy of LA Times]
All new, all live: Wii ads in the UK
Movie-goers in the UK are going to be treated to something special while they're waiting for the feature to start: live Wii ads. Pairs of actors, portraying a mother and son combination, will show up in Carlton Screen Advertising and Picturehouse cinemas to play Wii Sports on the big screen to show off "just how exciting and easy it is to play", explained Dean McKain of Comment UK, the agency working with Nintendo on the ads. Sounds like a fantastic idea for an ad to us -- we just wish someone would do it in the US as well! If Nintendo wants to reach everyone, this is exactly the kind of thing they need to go -- get out there and show the Wii off to the regular, non-gaming masses.
How to deal wth cell users in theaters, Darth Vader edition
"If you only knew the power of the Dark Side." Sometimes we really wish we could bust out this line, replete with authentic Darth evil voice for that clown that hoofs your seat or answers a call during a film. Well, Lucasfilm has given the world a taste of how that scenario could well play out at a recent screening of Star Wars for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The following trailer rolled before the feature and made us all grin a you-get-em-Darth type of grin. Have a peek after the break.
The 10 megapixel Cinevision 2006 movie projection system
Oh yeah, and speaking of Super Hi-Vision, say hello to Cinevision's new so-called 2006 digital movie projector system casts a 5000 x 2000 picture up on the screen. That's ten million freaking pixels, by our count. Granted, 5k -- what they're calling the technology because, you know, that horizontal pixel count -- is actually comprised of five projectors running simultaneously with spatially synced imaging courtesy of Fraunhofer IIS technology. Cinevision claims that a 90 minute 5K movie will only set you back 45GB of space -- perhaps a bit much for online distribution, but a cakewalk for multi-layer next gen optical like HD DVD or Blu-ray. That is, of course, assuming they're not totally exaggerating about a totally artifact-free 10 megapixel film only taking 45GB. Watch out though, Sony, it's the Cinevision 8k movies with 16 megapixel pictures that's what we're clearing out space for in our home theater booths; should only be, what, a few kilowatts of halogen power? Easily done.
Watch Bubble in the theater, on DVD and on cable, but not if you live in New Jersey
Or any of the other dozen states where movie theaters have refused to show the movie, fighting like the Luddites they are to protect their antiquated way of doing business. Director Steven Soderbergh, in partnership with our friend Mark Cuban and others is releasing his new movie "Bubble" ("the weirdest goddamn movie ever released by a major American filmmaker.") in theater, on cable and on DVD on the same day, giving viewers the choice of how they want to experience it from the beginning, instead of artificial time delays between each step.Immediate (or close to it) digital distribution is the future, and these theaters are silly to fight it. If they had any sense, they'd sell copies o the DVD on the way out. if they had offered me a copy of The Island as I exited the theater, I would have gladly dropped $20 more on top of what I had just spent on a ticket and popcorn. Any HDBeat readers live in states that won't be getting a choice of how they want to see their movies?
Do iPods portend the death of movie-going?
The Toronto Star ran an interesting article today suggesting that 2005 may have been the beginning of the end of the traditional movie-going experience. I've had the same thought recently as I downloaded interesting content for my iPod video and read multiple predictions that Apple would soon release a Mac-based home theater.Why go to the trouble of driving to the movie theater, standing in line for tickets, taking the risk that a new movie will be sold out, paying robbers' prices for popcorn and soft drinks, sitting uncomfortably in a seat with broken springs behind a lady with very big hair, and trying to ignore the Surround Sound from the theater next door—all when you could be sitting in the comfort of your own home watching a movie on your own Mac theater system, or enjoying a portable show on your iPod?The romantic notion that people will always go out to movie theaters has been proven wrong in the past, as the Toronto Star article points out. There was a decline in movie-going with the introduction of television, home videos, and movies on DVD. Apple's foray into video, with all it promises, may portend a further decline in movie-going. As sad as it may seem, this could indeed be the beginning of the end of the venerable movie theater. What do you think?
