The battle to get Hollywood blockbusters on IMax and 3D venues is no joke, and the competition is feirce. And proven track records have nothing to do with it, it's all about first come, first serve. Take the example of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Warner Brothers moved it from from a Chirsmas 2008 run to a Summer 2009 but couldn't get it on IMax screens until Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen finished its IMax run. Spider-Man 4 plans to debut on IMax on the same day in 2011 t will come to regular theaters. The reason for this race to IMax screen is simple, the higher ticket prices that comes with seeing a movin on Imax drive up a movie's gross, especially during the Summer Movie season. This is forcing studios to spread their 3D and digitally enhanced blockbusters throughout the year in order to secure enough of the prime venues. While it’s a good bet that more and more screens will become 3D-enabled, there is still a shortage properly equipped theaters that is likely to be with us for at least a couple more years. This shortfall will be especially evident when a number of 3D films debut in close proximity. As for the giant screen Imax venues, they will remain a limited resource for the foreseeable future with just 273 theaters worldwide at present.
According to Variety Disney has announced that its 3D film Tron Legacy will be released in 3D on December 17th, 2010 at both Imax and traditional theaters using Disney Digital 3D. The Mouse House has inked a 5-picture agreement with IMAX and has decided that Tron Legacy is Imax-worthy, even though the original 1982 Tron film, while groundbreaking in many respects, only brought in a mediocre $33 million at the box office.
Disney is hoping that the prospect of a new Tron film produced in 3D will be enough to propel the pioneering property that melded movies and video games to success at last. It should be interesting to see if there are enough 3D-capable screens by December 2010 that films will be able to be released exclusively (or nearly exclusively) in the extra-dimensional format.
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