3-D may bring 'new era' for moviemaking

LAS VEGAS — DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg promised a "new era" in moviegoing Tuesday, as Hollywood studios prepared a huge slate of 3-D movies for theaters that are increasingly going digital.

"It is nothing less than the greatest innovation that has happened for all of us in the movie business since the advent of color 70 years ago," Katzenberg said in an address at ShoWest, a conference in Las Vegas where studios unveil clips and other details about upcoming movie lineups.

"Now it's our chance to deliver something that is far superior than anything that can be done in the home," he said.

Katzenberg then showed off a 3-D clip of his studio's March 2009 release "Monsters vs. Aliens," in which the U.S. military unleashes a barrage on an alien spaceship as the president fires a few rounds from a handgun, shouting "I'm a brave president!"

The presentation came after the announcement of a deal calling for the conversion of 10,000 more theater screens for the digital technology needed to accommodate 3-D.

Access Integrated Technologies Inc. said it had reached agreements with four studios — Disney, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, and Universal Pictures, which is owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal — to finance and equip the screens in the United States and Canada during the next three years.

The conversion will cost as much as $700 million, said Bud Mayo, chief executive of Access Integrated Technologies, which completed a first tranche of 3,700 digital conversions in October.

Hollywood is anxious to convert as many theaters as possible to the digital format, which provides sharper images while eliminating the need for expensive celluloid film.

The digital technology can also be used to show 3-D movies with the addition of software and hardware costing about $25,000 per year for each screen.

"Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," a 3-D movie, pulled in $31.3 million in its opening weekend last month, an impressive feat because it played on only 683 screens. Many wide-release, 2-D films open on more than 3,000 screens and make half as much money.