Have It Your Way
Have it your way. It is not always about burgers. In this case, it refers to something more relevant to the people with whom we work and interface in our consulting practice.
Have it your way often reminds me of a sometimes over used phrase that we see all the time when working on consumer electronics based projects, “anywhere, anytime and on a device of one’s own choosing.”
The movie distribution and exhibition business offers a format of one’s choosing more and more for its major releases and many of its not so major releases. As audiences become accustomed to being able to pick and choose depending on the theater location and the specific movie there will be more opportunities to choose a format to meet one’s preferences.
Different movie theater presentation formats are not new. However, the increased penetration of the many formats is spreading to a larger geographical base, both in the US and outside the US. This will make it even easier to have it your way in the future.
Take the forthcoming The Dark Knight, for instance. For those interested in seeing this movie, including me, the following opportunities are available:
· Film projection – this is the way that theater attendees have been viewing Hollywood product since the business began, or thereabouts. The vast majority of the global commercial theaters are still film/celluloid based. The format is one that is effectively universal, with a print that plays in Los Angeles capable of being played in Mumbai. How long this format will continue to dominate is open to discussion.
· Digital projection – at this juncture the roll out of digital projection is moving forward, but not quite at the pace that seemed probable even a year ago. Most industry prognosticators and observers seem to predict that once the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners – DCIP – are able to resolve the virtual print fee issue with the remaining studios, the process will pick up steam and they will proceed to convert the theaters. Since DCIP is comprised of the three largest exhibitors in the US, Regal, AMC and Cinemark, their complete implementation of digital will mean the majority of US theaters will be converted.
With this phase complete, we’ll see a continuing increase in alternative content in theaters in addition to traditional movies.
Already, the Metropolitan Opera, for example, earned more revenue in the past year from their series in digital cinema enabled movie theaters around the country than they did at their home base in New York and that was only for the second season for this presentation. Next season, 11 HD live presentations are anticipated to fill theaters. There are many other organizations that are involved in taking advantage of this technology, preparing content that extends across many demographics, in both 2D and 3D.
· IMAX – once relegated to nature, space and documentary movies in the world’s museums and science centers, the IMAX format has been making a comeback as more commercial product each year has been converted through the IMAX DMR – digital re-mastering – process to enable commercial Hollywood product to be viewed on IMAX screens. This is reminiscent of the 70 mm theaters of the 70s and 80s that provided a larger than 35 mm experience with the added benefit of better sound quality. Digital sound systems caused this 70 mm process to become less viable.
IMAX recently reported that advance sales for The Dark Knight have exceeded the $2 million level as the picture will roll out to more IMAX screens than any movie has in the past. Good box office results may prompt more studios to release more product in this format. In turn, that could precipitate a larger installed base of systems.
Other theatrical exhibition formats in the marketplace today include digital 3D stereoscopic and IMAX 3D, although neither is being used for The Dark Knight. Thus many future movie releases could easily be viewed in up to 5 different formats. The number of choices could be further expanded when different language versions and the edited versions required by customs in select international territories are taken into consideration.
Digital 3D stereoscopic is still in its early stages, notwithstanding the number of movies and concerts that have been exhibited in 3D and the number that are in production and scheduled for release in the next 18 – 24 months. Some of the forthcoming releases may very well be released in all five formats.
If we add the forthcoming release of IMAX digital, still seen by only a select few in the marketplace, the number of potential formats would be six or even seven for 2D and 3D. With print costs for a 3D IMAX movie reportedly in the $40 - $50,000 range, the benefit of going digital is quite clear.
Similar to exhibition models, the entire image acquisition business, the front end of all movie productions, is going through a series of changes as well, as filmmakers are able to pick and choose the type of camera and format as well. This is occurring as more projects are being shot digitally or in HD as opposed to film, and will continue to evolve as the next generation tools become more robust and as the next generation filmmaker becomes the dominant force in the industry.
But that is a story for another time.
