Disney CEO Bob Iger defended the company’s production of 3-D films Thursday after 3-D ticket sales for several recent movies lagged their predecessors.
It’s “way too early to write 3-D’s epitaph,” Iger said at the D: All Things Digital conference. “I think a lot of conclusions are being reached about a business that’s still relatively new.”
Industry experts point out that The Walt Disney Co.’s fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and the second installment of “Kung Fu Panda,” from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., generated around 40 percent of their revenue from 3-D screenings, compared with about 60 percent from earlier films such as “Shrek Forever After” and “How to Train Your Dragon.”
Some analysts trimmed estimates on DreamWorks and 3-D technology company RealD Inc. as a result. Shares of RealD are down about 14 percent since the weekend, DreamWorks shares are down 7 percent and Disney shares are off about 3 percent.
Higher ticket prices and a sense among consumers that 3-D is a gimmick are hurting attendance domestically, an effect that may carry over overseas, where 3-D is still booming.
“We suspect 3-D demand will slow over the coming year overseas as the ‘novelty’ begins to wear off,’ BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield wrote in a research note Tuesday.
Iger said that 3-D technology must be used in the right way or studios risk annoying moviegoers who are asked to pay a few dollars more for tickets.
“(If) people go to a film on the first weekend and pay the premium that they pay for 3-D and come out either not liking film or thinking it wasn’t worth it in 3-D — you can’t hide that any more. Everybody knows it,” he said. “So I think it has to be used carefully. When it’s used it has to be used on the right film and in the right way technologically and creatively. You can’t just ‘If you build it they will come.’ You can’t do that.”
Hollywood has been hurt by a slow start this year with revenues from U.S. and Canadian theaters down 8 percent at $4.02 billion through the Memorial Day long weekend, according to Hollywood.com.
Last weekend, Warner Bros. “The Hangover: Part II” in 2-D debuted at No. 1, hauling in $105.8 million over the long weekend, compared to “Kung Fu Panda 2” in 3-D opening with $62.2 million.
Review: Director Michael Morris’ “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”
It is a truth universally acknowledged, as Bridget Jones herself might write in her diary, that at the end of any Bridget Jones movie, our heroine has triumphed over all doubts and obstacles and is finally happy.
With a man. Well, so far, with one particular man: Mark Darcy, the stuffy-yet-dashing man of her dreams.
This, dear viewer, is not a spoiler for the new fourth movie, "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy." In fact, if you've seen the trailer, you'll know that Bridget (Renée Zellweger, still pretty delightful), who finally married Mark at the end of the third film, is now a widow.
We're not supposed to divulge exactly what happens next. But remember, folks, this is a classic romantic comedy franchise. Rom-coms can be sad and deep, but they still need to be romantic.
What makes "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" especially enjoyable, then — and the best since the 2001 original — is not that Bridget finds a way yet again to triumph over doubts and obstacles. It's that she still makes us care so darned much.
How does she do it after all these years? All I know is, I was rooting harder for her at the end of this film than I was with the others, even the original where she's kissing Mark in the snowy street in underwear and sneakers.
There are various possible explanations. One is Zellweger herself, who has brought her character gracefully into her 50s, retaining Bridget's goofiness and deep-set optimism while reflecting hard-won life experience.
And there are subtle changes to the equation. The relationships in this latest film are more interesting — old ones and new.
Bridget's relationship with herself is more interesting, too — and healthier. Sure, she can swig a full bottle of Chardonnay on a bad... Read More