Analysts last week said that 3D was on the wane, and if the U.S. Memorial Day weekend box office results are any indication, they may be right.
Despite a record breaking weekend, 3D attendance and box office was extremely disappointing. Of the $208m in record business done over the weekend (so much for web piracy destroying the movie industry, then), only 36% of all attendees chose the 3D version of Kung Fu Panda 2. As 3D prices are higher, and that's actually one of the reasons why 3D may be one the wane according to analysts, a higher percentage of the animated sequel's box office was for the 3D presentation, at 45%.
You would have to go back to a year ago, back in July 2010 for the movie Despicable Me, to find a lower 3D result.
More than half of the $208m was for a movie that was not even available in 3D. The Hangover Part II took $137.4m at the box office, and there was not a 3D goggle in sight.
Other movies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Thor, all underperformed in 3D, while performing about expectations in 2D.
But other analysts are not so sure that a couple of bad results necessarily means the end of the 3D craze. Ralph Schackart of William Blair & Co feels that Panda 2's low marketing budget was more to blame for lacklustre 3D ticket sales than anything else, while Eric Wold of Merriman Capital believes that, in the longer trend, 3D is still a viable format.
Do you think the 3D craze is nearing an end, or do you think the recent performances are not a long term trend? Post your opinion in this news article's comments section, or in this forum thread:
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=94893
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