Box Office Seeing Big Bucks in 3-D

March 11, 2010 by Vignesh · Leave a Comment

You don’t need special glasses to see that $29.9 billion is a big number. It is huge.

The figure is the worldwide tally for movie ticket sales in 2009, an 8% bump up on the 2008 revenues. Although some of the increase is attributed to a rise in ticket prices, the main thrust has been generated by the rising popularity of 3-D movies and theaters.

In North America 3-D movies chocked up $1.14 of the $10.6 billion total box office, despite being limited to just some 20 movies. Naturally the astonishing results of “Avatar” are impacting the figures, but the trend towards 3-D is evident in many respects. The 20 3-D releases in 2009 is more than twofold the 2008 count, and the number of 3-D screens in North America has jumped to 3,548, up from 1,514. Outside North America the number of 3-D screens has leaped 500% to approximately 5,500.

The turbulence in the economy may also be contributing to the box office boon. Almost counter intuitively, the appeal of movies has often been inversely linked to how well the economy is faring; as the economy falters people seem to flock more to the movies, perhaps as an escape, and also that, when compared to alternative entertainment such as major sports and theme parks, movies provide a less expensive model for families.

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