3D movie box office numbers are fading fast
If there’s one certainty about 3D movies and their presence in the current film climate, it’s this: they’re not stopping anytime soon.
Even now, by my count, there are about four 3D movies in theatres (Cats & Dogs, Despicable Me, the Step Up sequel and Toy Story 3) where before – back when Avatar was reinventing the 3D trend near the end of 2009 – just one of them at a time was enough to send movie-goers flocking to the big screens.
So it stands to reason that, with so many 3D movies now in theatres, film studios are raking it in from them more than ever, right? Right?
Well, as it turns out, while Avatar’s runaway success signalled the ballooning of James Cameron’s bank account, it also prefaced one glaring misconception about the 3D movie market.
Namely, for instance, that the trend was everlasting. Because since Avatar’s record-breaking theatrical release, by available industry data, 3D box office revenue has steadily declined at most every new attempt at a three-dimensional picture.
Indeed, following Avatar’s $77 million opening weekend haul, the percentage of each subsequent 3D film’s box office revenue earned from its 3D (not 2D) screenings has fallen with remarkable consistency.
According to movie industry site TheWrap.com, no one has come close to matching Avatar’s 71 per cent opening weekend 3D revenue since – a downward spiral that bottomed out with the latest 3D debut, Despicable Me, earning just 45 per cent of its opening weekend gate from 3D screenings.
In between, 3D releases of How To Train Your Dragon (68 per cent of opening weekend revenue from 3D), Shrek Forever After (61 per cent), Toy Story 3 (60 per cent) and The Last Airbender (56 per cent) bridged the faltering gap between 3D wonder Avatar and 3D blunder Despicable Me.
Surely, there are reasons for this. For one, unlike Avatar, which was designed, conceived and produced with James Cameron’s vision for a 3D masterpiece, films since have been – perhaps rightly so – accused of debuting in 3D as a cheap patch to boost box office revenue. The idea here being, movies like The Last Airbender have no business being three-dimensional, and their post-production visual effects do little to enhance the experience of the film.
And then there is the frightening-for-movie-execs idea that the 3D novelty is simply wearing off. It’s a pain to pay $5 or so extra for a 3D movie ticket, it’s not easy for young children to keep 3D glasses on for two hours – as a source tells TheWrap, this is a major issue for producers of 3D family film producers – and, without original 3D visions such as Avatar flooding the theatres, both of these factors lend the public to tire from rushing to catch a 3D picture.
Does this mean 3D is a dud? Of course not. They’re still raking in hundreds of millions, and the next Harry Potter movie – which will be in 3D when it comes out this fall – is bound to at least humour the $1 billion worldwide box office mark.
But with almost sixty 3D releases to hit theatres over the next two years, studios might want to start tempering their expectations for just how 3D will boost their bottom lines from now on.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Not a 3D fan... | Aug 10, 2021 2:22:28 PM
I, for one, will not take in a 3D movie unless it will be spectacular. And, even then, I still may not. If the studios think 3D is the way to go, I would much prefer regular movies any day and will simply look forward to spending my money somewhere else........
Posted by: SeriousOpinion from DigitalMom | Aug 10, 2021 4:42:52 PM
I love 3D movies. This weekend we went to watch Cats and Dogs - it was really great. My entire family enjoyed it. I hope they keep it up!
Posted by: Jim Dorey | Aug 11, 2021 12:38:37 AM
Ridiculous conjecture. Comparing AVATAR to children's movies?
Oh by the way, the just released STEP UP 3D raked in over 80% of it's opening weekend from 3D screens.
Time to concentrate on real stories guys.
Posted by: Wyatt | Aug 13, 2021 3:25:33 PM
Difference will be the movies that are made with 3D in mind from the start, and those that tack it on after in the attempt to sell premium tickets. At the moment there are a lot of shoddy movies being made into 3D to take advantage of the WOW factor. That they have made Piranha 3D is case in point. A horrible, less than B movie remade with 3D, just boggles the mind.
Posted by: Urulu | Oct 7, 2021 9:03:05 PM
It wont be 3D that propels any new movie to success, be it Harry Potter or Avatar 2. If these would be made in 2D they would attract the same number of patrons (or more, coz the people who have by now discovered the headaches, nausea and low picture quality of 3D might choose to just wait for the DVD). What will make a movie successful will, as always, just be the plot, the characters, and the enjoyability of the movie. Sadly, the 3D gimmick distracts and takes away from all these.