When the news arrived recently that ESPN 3D would discontinue its superb 3D sports coverage, we couldn’t help being reminded of the Winston Churchill quote: “If this is a blessing, it is very well disguised.” But trial and error, success and failure, come with this territory, and are a part of any technical evolution. It’s the price of admission. Bryan Burns and the team at ESPN were incredible leaders in the dawning days of 3DTV. As an industry, we will forever be grateful to them for their courage and their commitment to 3DTV. We hope to see them again on the “advanced imaging” highway.
In spite of reading that tough news item, 3D professionals have a lot to be excited about. As our industry rolls into summer, several impressive trends are emerging. First and foremost, May was the biggest 3D movie month in history. Fueled by ‘Iron Man 3,’ ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Epic,’ box offices worldwide sold almost 2 billion dollars in 3D movie ticket sales. If the average ratio of 3D tickets to 2D tickets is between 40-60%, it’s a good guess that almost a billion dollars in tickets were sold to 3D lovers. That momentum continues with the extraordinary success of ‘Man of Steel.’ Up next are a string of powerhouses from Pixar (‘Monsters U’), Paramount and Brad Pitt (‘World War Z’), DreamWorks Animation (DWA) (‘Turbo’), and Warner Bros. (‘Pacific Rim’).
By: Jim Chabin, President, International 3D Society and 3D@Home Consortium | Source: Letter from the Editor, The I3DS and 3D@Home June Newsletter
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