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Now in amazing 3-D and smell-o-vision!

Kim Hollis: Roughly 1/4 of the theaters that exhibited Monsters vs. Aliens showed it in 3-D. 58% of the overall revenue for the film came from approximately 1,150 3-D equipped theaters. Is this the movie that establishes the fact that 3-D is the future of animation?

David Mumpower: The numbers here are truly staggering. $34 million came from 1,100 venues while $25 million came from the other 3,000. Just roll that over in your head for a moment. Those 3,000 venues had a per-location average of about $8,300 while the 3-D and IMAX locations maxed out around $30,700 (I'm rounding with the venues as well as the numbers, so these calcs aren't exact). That's almost a four to one ratio in terms of revenue. Anyone who thinks 3-D and IMAX sales aren't skewing the equation just isn't paying attention. This is the key aspect of why box office is up so dramatically. Coraline was down 85% this weekend after experiencing only one drop larger than 25% during its first seven weeks. What do the two weekends of dramatic decline have in common? The first was the release of the Jonas Brothers concert movie and the second was the release of Monsters vs. Aliens. The times where it lost 3-D venues are the times when the bottom fell out of its box office. BOP has always stressed that competition is an overrated factor, but we are finding a new variation of this thought process where there is direct correlation. The battle for 3-D/IMAX exhibitions is going to be brutal in coming months. That's where all the money is.

Joel Corcoran: I think we've seen that 3-D is the future of animation for a while, but Hollywood has been very cautious and slow-moving in its approach. This movie shows that any studio that hasn't already implemented a 3-D strategy for its films is not only playing catch-up, they're far behind and plummeting faster.





Josh Spiegel: Joel's right about caution ruling the day, but I feel like it's the exhibitors and theater owners who are at fault for not catching up with 3-D technology. Kudos to Jeffrey Katzenberg, who's been fighting for 3-D for a long time; what's even more impressive is that his desired amount of 3-D ready theatres was, in reality, halved. For Monsters vs. Aliens to do so well with so few 3-D theaters just proves his point; this time, maybe the exhibitors and owners will jump on the bandwagon quicker.

Max Braden: The studios were already announcing 100% 3D slates for the future before MvA's numbers were in, but this movie will certainly be the one they point to as proof of that vision. But I'm not convinced that 3-D is going to sustain the box office all by itself. This year will see an increase in the numbers but I expect a plateau after audiences get used to the nifty gimmick and expect a more comfortable (on the eyes), brighter moviegoing experience.

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