Now here's some good news for movie-goers: Sony has informed theatrical exhibitors that it will no longer pay for 3D glasses, and will now expect the cinemas to pay the $0.50/customer for the specs, presumably passing this on to cash-strapped customers who are already paying a $3-4 premium to see movies in 3D.
Why is this good news? Because I hate 3D movies. They're dark. They give me a headache. I can't converge them properly (I have astigmatisms that make 3D difficult to see). I can't take my kid to 3D movies because she won't wear the glasses. The glasses hurt when worn over my prescription glasses. And the 3D effect generally add nothing (and often subtract something) from the movie.
So now that cinemas are being asked to shoulder more costs (over and above the big fees they've already paid to retrofit for 3D exhibition), maybe they'll stop booking 3D prints and give us back glorious 2D.
The price tag for 3D glasses is no laughing matter — studios can spend $5 million to $10 million worldwide for a tentpole, but most of the cost is incurred in the North American marketplace (studios pay after the fact, based on how many glasses were actually used). Sony has two high-profile 3D tentpoles headed to theaters next summer — Men in Black III and The Amazing Spider-Man.
Glasses for smaller films can cost $1.5 million to $2 million. Translated, 3D glasses account for about 50 cents of a theater ticket.
Sony, along with other studios, is in favor of moving toward an ownership model, requiring moviegoers to buy their 3D glasses at the theater (the studios argue that it could be a new revenue stream for exhibitors).
(Image: Day One Hundred and Sixty One – 3D Cinema Glasses, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from yortw's photostream)
