At one point in time, there was speculation that 3D movies would soon overtake their 2D counterparts. Although 3D movies had been building momentum for some time by then, much of the sentiment was fueled by the release of [easyazon_link identifier=”B003EVWDR0″ locale=”US” tag=”tvovermind00a-20″]Avatar[/easyazon_link] as well as a number of other successful 3D movies released in 2009. However, the near decade that has passed since 2009 has made it clear that such speculation was premature, as shown by the fact that IMAX is phasing out 3D movies.
The reasoning is rather simple and straightforward. While there are still people who are interested in [easyazon_link identifier=”B01A5LUBJS” locale=”US” tag=”tvovermind00a-20″]seeing 3D movies[/easyazon_link], there are not enough of them for IMAX and other theaters in the same line of business to bother to cater to them. As a result, it seems possible that other theaters could follow in IMAX’s footsteps in the not so distant future, which would make 3D movies even less viable by making them less and less accessible to those who are still interested in them.
Why Is Hollywood So Intent on Pushing 3D Movies?
With that said, it is important to note that the falling interest in 3D movies is far from being a recent phenomenon. However, 3D movies managed to hold on because of the stubbornness of movie studios, which have shown a significant interest in ensuring their success.
In part, this seems to have been because movie studios were interested in the higher profits that could be made from selling the more expensive 3D movie tickets compared to their 2D movie counterparts. As a result, there was a significant push to make use of 3D in more and more movies, so much so that even film-makers who had no real interest in such technologies were being pushed to make use of them anyways. Unfortunately for the movie studios, some people speculate this might have been one reason for the falling interest in 3D movies. After all, Avatar had been so successful because it had made excellent use of 3D technologies to create a visual spectacle like nothing that had come before it, whereas a lot of the 3D movies that followed in its footsteps were much less capable in that regard. As a result, it is no wonder that movie-goers became less and less interested in paying more for no real benefit, particularly when combined with the fact that the sheer novelty of 3D movies had worn out at a rapid rate.
What Should Be Done about 3D Movies?
Summed up, IMAX’s choice to phase out 3D movies is nothing but a natural response to the lack of interest in them. However, it is interesting to note that movie studios will continue to make 3D movies for the foreseeable future. This is not because of studio executives’ stubbornness in the face of inevitability so much as the existence of other financial considerations that have not been mentioned so far.
After all, there is a market that is fascinated by 3D movies in the form of China, which represents one of the richest sources of revenue for film-makers in modern times. In fact, 3D movies are so popular with Chinese consumers that some blockbusters have had exclusive 3D releases in nowhere but the Chinese market. As a result, it is not impossible for the future to see 2D movies dominate the domestic market while their 3D counterparts dominate the Chinese market, which would be an interest scenario to say the least.
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