3D will keep going says Cineworld

Talking to the Telegraph, Cineworld's chief financial officer Mr Bowcock has said that 3D movies are still contributing to the chain’s profit but customers where getting more selective with 3D.

 

"Customers got wise to the way 3D was used,” Cineworld's chief financial officer Mr Bowcock told the Telegraph, "But the right films will do well. 3D will keep going." 

The 15 3D film releases that Cineworld exhibited during the first half of the year represented 15% of admissions. This was a slight dip compared to the 17 3D movies of the same period last year.

The Telegraph reports that overall group revenues rose 1.1% to £165m in the 26 weeks to June 28 compared with the same period last year. Pre-tax profits jumped to £13.4m from £6.9m in 2011.

Cineworld are currently rolling out D-BOX motion seats across selected sites which offer patrons motion (or '4D') experiences synced in time with the movie. D-BOX seats are available for an additional premium on top of the 3D premium meaning D-BOX presentations more closely match the pricing of IMAX 3D presentation.

Cineworld’s results show that, despite the gloom of decreasing 3D ticket sales, there is still a profitable market in 3D releases but perhaps for selected films. One can safely assume a high proportion of people will pay the 3D premium for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 but most people are happy to watch general releases in between the tent-pole movies in 2D. In the meantime, 3D movie producers can take comfort from the fast emerging 3D movie market in China.

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