Frozen 3D Bungle?! (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Koroush,

We know that the Japanese (and I expect Europeans) have embraced HD technology faster
than Americans.

I don't have sales numbers on 3D sales overseas. However, it's apparent by the amount of
3D still being released that it is selling better there than here in the United States.

All I can tell you about what I am hearing from insiders -- and I have been saying this for months --
3D is not selling very well domestically. Had lunch with someone associated with a very prominent
Insider publication recently who told me "3D is dead." That I don't agree with, but certainly, that
person had much insight into sales figures.

 

[moovtune]

I wonder if all those overseas sales figures take into account all the USA people who are purchasing from overseas because they have to to get some of their 3D titles.

 

[Johnny Angell]

So let me get this straight. I can buy a Frozen princess costume (which I'm wearing here at work right now, with my hairy belly sticking out of the middle and the leggings barely covering my shins), yet I still can't get a 3D Blu-ray of this thing? Come on.

Pics?

 

[Todd Erwin]

Ron has a point that 3D just isn't selling well here in the US, even from a theatrical standpoint.

And this is based on remarks from the box office cashiers at the last few 3D movies I saw in a theatre (Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6).

Me: Two for Big Hero 6
Cashier: At 7:15?
Me: No, 6:45.
Cashier: You know that show is in 3D. Is that OK with you?
Me: Yes. Why do you ask?
Cashier: Many people don't know which shows are 3D, and get very upset when we hand them glasses at the door.

The 6:45 played to an almost empty house. But then again, it was a Tuesday show on a "school night."

 

[MatthewA]

Ron has a point that 3D just isn't selling well here in the US, even from a theatrical standpoint.

If it's not being offered, of course it isn't selling.

 

[Robert Crawford]

If it's not being offered, of course it isn't selling.

Maybe, the reason why it's not being offered is because it's not selling.

 

[Ejanss]

I strongly suspect that 3D is doing quite well overseas. There can be no other
reason for the studios continuing to saturate that market with titles.

And yet every single "3D is Dead!" argument symbolically overblows its "failure" in the UK. (Which did get a Frozen disk.)

I'm with Persian--or maybe Persian's with me--why just hard-disk, and why just US? I've offered the courtesy of a theory, and invite others to do the same.

Had lunch with someone associated with a very prominent
Insider publication recently who told me "3D is dead." That I don't agree with, but certainly, that
person had much insight into sales figures.

Although most of the "death" has been from publications, whether they read the sales figures or not--
If there is a "death" of 3D, it was premeditated murder bordering on hate crime, but the sales continue where they actually exist. Namely, the other studios.
I have no problem buying Dawn/Apes and X-Men from Fox, and even Paramount hasn't seem to have gotten the "bad news" yet.

 

[bluirv]

If "3D is Dead!" why is it that Disney releases its Blu-ray Marvel films on 3D, but not their own titles?

 

[Ejanss]

Because Marvel Films is allowed to be an independent "studio" within Disney, and do what it wants, including the video releases.
And they see no problem with 3D whatsoever, in the theaters or on disk.

Pixar, unfortunately, is now a fully functioning part of Disney and comes under "Disney releases".

 

[Bryan^H]

Koroush,We know that the Japanese (and I expect Europeans) have embraced HD technology fasterthan Americans.I don't have sales numbers on 3D sales overseas. However, it's apparent by the amount of3D still being released that it is selling better there than here in the United States.All I can tell you about what I am hearing from insiders -- and I have been saying this for months --3D is not selling very well domestically. Had lunch with someone associated with a very prominentInsider publication recently who told me "3D is dead." That I don't agree with, but certainly, that person had much insight into sales figures.

A good example is the Blu-Ray recorders from Panasonic. Going strong since 2008 in Japan, and the United Kingdom. Never arrived in the U.S.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

3D is so not dead in my house. Last I checked, I still have two eyes and functional stereoscopic vision. So thanks to Disney, I had to finally relent and order my 3D Blu-ray of Frozen from a Mexican drug cartel. Next I suppose I'll have to buy Malificent 3-D from former KGB agents of the Soviet Union.

I guess we won't be seeing further 3-D conversions like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid ever again in the American home theater? I was kinda liking those actually.

 

[Persianimmortal]

A good example is the Blu-Ray recorders from Panasonic. Going strong since 2008 in Japan, and the United Kingdom. Never arrived in the U.S.

And here in Australia, we don't even get the full range of regular Panasonic Blu-ray players that you guys get in the states. I had to import my then top-of-the-range Panasonic BDT-500P because it was never released down under. Ditto other hardware, such as TVs - we rarely get the full selection of models that the US does.

Yet we, as a market of only 23 million people, still get Frozen 3D, and you guys don't in the US. That's why it still makes no sense.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

3D is not "dead", it just hasn't been the "runaway success" the industry hoped it would be. If it were truly "dead", nobody would be here talking about it. I check Disney's Facebook page and whenever they put up something promoting Frozen, Maleficent or Planes Fire & Rescue, there's ALWAYS at least one comment about their non-existence in 3D.

Meanwhile Anchor Bay released "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" this week ONLY in 3D, as a 2-disc set with 3D on one disc and 2D on the other, priced the same as any regular Blu-Ray release. Anybody who buys this movie will be getting the 3D version whether they want it or not. Many of the other smaller studios are doing this, while Disney cries about how nobody paid $40 for their 3D editions.

And yes, it makes absolutely NO sense that other countries are getting these titles and we aren't. And the longer Disney goes without even giving us an explanation, the worse they are looking as a company. They pushed 3D pretty big the first year or so it was out, even putting inserts promoting 3D in their 2D discs, but now they're acting like it no longer exists. They just have to realize that nobody is going to pay laserdisc-level prices for any movie anymore, and likely it will take a long time, several YEARS most likely, for home 3D equipment to really catch on in the numbers they'd like provided they don't give up before then.

 

[RJ992]

3D is so not dead in my house. Last I checked, I still have two eyes and functional stereoscopic vision. So thanks to Disney, I had to finally relent and order my 3D Blu-ray of Frozen from a Mexican drug cartel. Next I suppose I'll have to buy Malificent 3-D from former KGB agents of the Soviet Union.

I guess we won't be seeing further 3-D conversions like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid ever again in the American home theater? I was kinda liking those actually.

Well, as you might know, RATATOUILLE got a new conversion overseas but it;s region-locked. Disney doesn't even allow you to import it (unless you have an expensive region-free player). INCREDIBLES is also getting a conversion...and you know the rest.

 

[Persianimmortal]

3D is not "dead", it just hasn't been the "runaway success" the industry hoped it would be.

I hate to say it, but 3D is pretty much dead, for the reasons we discussed in this thread. As I mentioned in that thread, I agree with your point in that generally speaking, 3D was overhyped by the studios and CE manufacturers, and with the subtle use of 3D in most modern movies, the lack of "wow" moments meant that the reality could never live up to the insane hype. As a result, people don't like spending extra money for something they see as a gimmick, instead of viewing it as a nice novelty to have.

But here's the head-scratcher: if a 3D version of a movie already exists, and thus doesn't cost the studio more money to create - as is the case with Frozen and so many other movies - then why not release it on Blu in the US? Even if it sells poorly, surely if it's sold at a reasonable price then it can make a tidy additional profit, and keep the 3D-loving portion of the consuming public happy. If it works in smaller markets overseas - and anecdotally at least, I can't imagine anything other than relatively tiny 3D Blu-ray sales here in Australia for example - then why does Disney actually go out of its way to prevent 3D sales in the US?

The only possible explanation is that Disney is actively trying to kill off 3D in the US. Not just reacting to a declining market, but actually trying to steer consumers away from 3D. Possibly so that it can avoid the expense of having to make 3D versions of movies in the first place. This is the only scenario which makes some sense.

 

[ABaglivi]

The RealD 3D web site lists some very heavy hitters now playing in theaters and coming soon. Dead?

 

[MatthewA]

The only possible explanation is that Disney is actively trying to kill off 3D in the US. Not just reacting to a declining market, but actually trying to steer consumers away from 3D. Possibly so that it can avoid the expense of having to make 3D versions of movies in the first place. This is the only scenario which makes some sense.

If you put a gun to my head and forced me to make a guess as to what they are thinking, I would probably come up with the exact same answer as you.

 

[Bill Coolidge]

Where I live in Sonoma County there's usually only one 3-D showing a day in the evening. I think this is driven by families. Parents don't want to pay a premium five dollars extra per movie (For a family of four this ends up costing $20 extra per movie) so their kids can sit around and fiddle and play with the 3-D glasses instead of watching the movie. I finally trained my kids not to do that. But even my nine-year-old son is afraid of the 3-D images coming at him and doesn't like it. So I think it's the family audience that is closing down 3-D.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Here's the thing you guys need to consider...

Just because 3D is *allegedly* selling well theatrically doesn't mean
it is doing the same in the home.

Far less expensive to pay the premium 3D movie ticket than pay for
a more expensive home display and Blu-ray player that has 3D capability.

Really, I don't see average consumers ponying up the money for a 3D
capable display and then a 3D Blu-ray player on top of that.

So, as far as I am concerned --- and unless I am missing something ---
I don't see any correlation between the success of theatrical 3D and home 3D.

I will say this again...

I have heard from enough insiders over the past few months that 3D
has not been selling well here in the States.

It seems to me the proof is in the pudding when we aren't seeing
companies like Disney pumping out titles, nor even Warner (Gravity 7.1 Atmos)
or some Fox titles.

I am not definitively saying 3D in the home is dead, but I am only relaying
what I am hearing on this end.

 

[ABaglivi]

Do the "insiders" mentioned above ever add to statement that 3D is not selling well in the states "but it's knocking-'em-dead in Mexico?