Digital Theaters (Finally) Coming Soon? Don't Hold Your Breath

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/can-3d-help-yan.html

 

By Jason Silverman March 14, 2008 | 5:44:00 pm 

 

Can 3-D help push digital projection into your multiplex? Jeffrey Katzenberg thinks so. At ShoWest -- the movie exhibitors' biggest confab of the year -- the DreamWorks' chief used a sneak of footage from his 2009 animation blockbuster Monsters vs. Aliens to praise 3-D.

 

"It is nothing less than the greatest innovation that has happened for all of us in the movie business since the advent of color 70 years ago," he said. "Now is our chance to deliver something that is far superior than anything that can be done in the home."

 

Of course, we've been promised digital multiplexes for years ... and years. Billions will be saved, some estimate, on making and shipping 35mm prints, and the problems associated with playing those prints -- which tend to take a beating over the course of a run -- will disappear. By digitally delivering movies, theaters will gain increased flexibility. They can shift films from one hall to another, tweak their schedules and show concerts, lectures and sporting events.

 

Sounds good, right? So what's taking so long? The main sticking point has been the cost of transferring theaters from the 35mm standard, which has been in place for 75 years, to a digital one (the studios, via their Digital Cinema Initiatives consortium, have agreed upon a standard digital architecture for theaters). Setup can run $75,000 per screen, making conversion of a multiplex a major financial gamble. The theaters aren't willing to pay for an upgrade so studios can save money.

 

Still, recent successes in 3-D and large-format films (including the surprising Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus) and fear of a Netflixing nation have got the studios pumping out 3-D fare. A New York Times article predicted that as many as 10 big-budget 3-D films will be released in 2009, including James Cameron's Avatar. London's Guardian also trumpeted a new era of cinema.

 

The problem remains: where to play these new-form 3-D films? Fewer than 1,000 of the nation's 38,000 screens are ready for digital and, thus, digital 3-D. And though AccessIT announced a deal with four studios to help equip 10,000 more screens, read the fine print and you'll see that their roll out takes place over the next three years -- not nearly enough time to accommodate films like Aliens vs. Monsters, Avatar, Disney's G-Force and the horror film Piranha. So, though the goods might be available in 3-D and digitally, most of us might end up watching these 3-Ders the old-fashioned way: in 35mm, with the action as flat as ever.