Well, the World Cup has dominated both my life and my emotions lately (you're dead to me, France), and it looks like Europe's movie-going public is about to feel the same way. Variety reports that, due to schedule-shifting in attempts to avoid the World Cup, the movie season overseas is getting a bit squished together--so much so that a whole bunch of 3-D releases are ending up on top of one another, in what might just end up a limited-screen-fueled box-office-bloodbath.
Between the Asian Pacific Region and Europe, there are about 10,000 3-D-capable screens in play--and Shrek Forever After, The Last Airbender, and Toy Story 3 are all looking to bow within the same several weeks throughout the two regions, at the end of July and beginning of August. Bottom line? A limited number of screens, plus small window of opportunity, plus reasonably high demand= jammed-up 3-D glut.
It's an interesting time for 3-D, in the wake of filmmaker dislike for the technology, coupled with a recognized, over-saturated US-market "event fatigue," in play against a growing weariness for "quick n' dirty" 3-D cash-ins (lookin' your way, Clash of the Titans). Personally, I'm anxious to see if this ends up an unsustainable fad, or proves James Cameron right and ushers us into a new era of worldwide 3-D films as the standard.
As long as Smell-o-Vision stays gone, I'm a happy camper.
