Speaking of 3-D...

I just read the following summary report from Nielson Research about consumer reactions to 3-D movies. The sales increases may help boost sales for "Journey to the Center of the Earth," given the fact that there are fewer screens equipped with 3-D which limits the size of the release.

NIELSEN FINDS STRONG CONSUMER APPETITE FOR 3-D FILMS BUT WEAK AWARENESS
Amsterdam, NL (June 23, 2008) - The Nielsen Company today reported that there is strong consumer appetite for 3-D films, based on a detailed analysis, that showed a 65% sales increase in theatres using 3-D technology to exhibit their moviesThe analysis, which was unveiled today by Nielsen PreView at the Cine Expo conference in The Netherlands, compared the film's performance in comparable theatres with a proven track record in the action/adventure genre. This like-to-like comparison provides a more sophisticated understanding on the impact of 3-D than other studies that simply looked at the performance of the movie in 3-D and 2-D theatres regardless of their historical ability to attract action/adventure movies."With all the upcoming hype around 3-D, we wanted to take a hard look and see if there is truly a consumer appetite for 3-D." says Ann Marie Dumais, SVP, Nielsen PreView . "Our new research approach contrasted theatres in such a way to demonstrate consumers, when given a choice, will choose 3-D."Nielsen PreView's 3-D study analyzed over 4,000 theatres in the United States. The research found theatres with at least one screen exhibiting in 3-D had a 65% increase in box office sales compared to their 2-D counterparts. Further, those theatres that chose to exhibit in 3-D on more than one screen saw their sales climb yet even higher to 100% versus what was expected, indicating that one 3-D screen per theatre may not be enough to satisfy consumer demand.While consumers have an appetite for 3-D films, they often lack awareness and education around what 3-D is and where to find it. In a recent Nielsen survey, 48% were unaware that their movie choices were even available in 3-D. The numbers cited in this study are likely to go even higher for the industry with increased marketing support and consumer education.