ShoWest closes on 3D, windows themes

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i9622dc15ab8161171b3fdfef71de676b

Jennifer Lopez, Sam Worthington attend Thursday closer

 

By Carl DiOrio

March 18, 2010, 07:38 PM ET

 

LAS VEGAS -- Exhibitor complaints about recent studio moves to hasten select movies into DVD release seemed to abate just before ShoWest 2010 opened this week.

But low-key discussions of the theatrical release window continued throughout the four-day confab. Studio execs huddled with theater owners to discuss how many movies might hasten their theatrical runs to allow a speedier release in home entertainment, no doubt sweetening their pitch with an expressed flexibility on film-rental terms for the pics.

Publicly, exhibs expressed optimism that studios would tread cautiously in tightening the window. But concerns still lurk.

AMC Entertainment chief Gerry Lopez said he has been telling studio execs he "totally understands" the challenge of maximizing revenue through all distribution windows.

"But the relationship between exhibitors and distributors is much more interlinked and complex besides the simple issue of windows," Lopez told THR. "The business models need to be addressed, and the issue of windows is just one of the touch marks. We'll see where the dialog leads."

The success of "Avatar" and "Alice i Wonderland" ensured 3D would be another hot topic at ShoWest.

Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of Disney's summer tentpole "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," told THR relevant considerations in taking a project 3D include both creative matters and cost issues. Bruckheimer said he was willing to convert "Prince" to 3D to tap into burgeoning interest in the format, but the studio deemed the process too expensive.

Disney may release his "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in 3D, but no final decision has been made. A related decision is whether to shoot the Hawaii-based production in 3D or convert the pic into 3D once it's in the can.

"We have to see if the cameras can take the stress of the jungle," he said.

Bruckheimer was feted as producer of the decade in ShoWest's closing event Thursday, a few hours after "Prince" was screened here for exhibs.

Meantime, ShoWest marked a 4% uptick in attendance -- to roughly 2,450 paid registrants -- in the exhibition confab's last year under managing director Robert Sunshine. Trade-show floor participation also increased modestly, to 456 booths.

Next year, the National Association of Theatre Owners plans to launch its own March trade show, moving the confab to Caesar's Palace. NATO will rebrand the confab as CinemaCon.

Sunshine operated ShoWest for 10 years, first independently, then with the Nielsen Co., and then this year as part of E5 Media, which also owns THR.

"It's been good running the show, and I think we're going out with a real bang," Sunshine said.