More Reasons To Go To The Movies: Next Iron Man In IMAX And 3D

from the can't-get-that-at-home dept

Thu, Sep 18th 2008 4:36pm — Mike Masnick

We've been pointing out how the movie industry appears to finally be realizing that they need to give people a reason to go out to the movies, now that they're competing with home theaters, and many are doing that by making use of things like IMAX technology that simply can't be reproduced in the home yet. Now, Parker Mason notes that the next version of the movie Iron Man is supposedly going to be in both 3D and IMAX -- again, trying to give people real reasons to actually go out and see the movie as a social experience. It's nice to see the industry recognizing this, though it would be better if the rest of the industry stopped freaking out about piracy and DRM and put more resources into giving people reasons to pay.

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Filed Under: 3d, imax, iron man, movies

16 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2008 @ 5:26pm

Ill gladly pay to see a movie in 3D. I wish however they would not gouge you by charging $3 extra bucks for the ticket to "cover the costs of the glasses". What if I reuse my glasses from the last movie a saw? Anycase - Happy to see more IMAX and 3D
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Pete Valle, 18 Sep 2008 @ 5:46pm

Awesomeness
See, they can make people go to the movies. Just a little creativity and the promise of something good will probably make people pay for the tickets. If the next Iron Man is as good as the first, with the addition of cool technology like IMAX and 3D, you bet I'll be excited and plunking down my cash for it.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2008 @ 6:51pm

i have no problem going to the movies in their normal format. my friends and i very much enjoy, the issue at hand is that it costs us a fortune to do so! it is a social experience and it's also a... well, theatrical experience. I'm not going to go home and pay hundreds to thousands on high def projectors that are equally as good as movie projectors and then pay another fortune for the movies - the amount of money spent actually going to the theatre throughout my life is a lot less than going down the alternate route...
it's just that now that going to the theatre is so expensive, and an average drink there costing 5 dollars, we just do without. It's just a luxury, not a necessity, and it's one most people can do without given the prices.
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Mojo, 18 Sep 2008 @ 7:25pm

Um, look at the box office of "event movies" such as Iron Man. They don't need gimmicks to get people into the theater, people are already going in droves.

And crap movies can be in 4D and projected onto a crowd of naked centerfolds, people still ain't gonna go.

All Hollywood has to do to keep people in the theater is MAKE GOOD MOVIES.
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billybob, 18 Sep 2008 @ 7:43pm

confused
"the next version of the movie Iron Man"

I didn't know sequels were versions... What exactly are we talking about here?
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Glurbie, 18 Sep 2008 @ 8:07pm

Still a band-aid
There are already several 3D displays for the home that can be watched by a room full of people with no one having to wear silly glasses (other than maybe they're own prescription glasses). The displays are still too expensive for the average user, and ancillary equipment support is lacking too. But, if Hollywood places significant emphasis on 3D movies, that may increase consumer demand for the home theater versions and improve that market. Personally I would love to see that happen so I can someday have a 3D game console, but Hollywood should realize that pushing 3D can only buy them time.

Some displays:
4D-vision (Dynamic Digital Depth)
Philips WOWvx
Dresden D4D
Lightspace Depthcube
NewSight

A search for "autostereoscopic display" will find more.
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crystalattice (profile), 18 Sep 2008 @ 9:01pm

Still not interested
I stopped being interested in movies when Hollywood decided that the "only" movies they will make are based on comics, cartoons, and video games. I know there are other movies out there but the vast majority look like "do-overs" of previous films or rehashed ideas. There just hasn't been anything interesting in the last few years.

Not to mention the over-reliance of computer graphics; they still look fake. Sorry, but no amount of rendering can make a spaceship look like a physical object. Compare the original Star Wars with the prequels. Personally, I like the original trilogy because they used models; they "looked" real on the screen, even if you could tell they were models. The prequels just looked fake.

So, long story short, I'm boycotting Hollywood until they make original movies and stop relying on special effects.
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NotBob, 18 Sep 2008 @ 9:06pm

The other theatres
I had a great time over Labor Day weekend when a group of us went to a triple header--at the drive-in. Not many of those around but over in the Lexington/Columbia South Carolina area they still have one, actually two side-by-side. We paid $3 a head to watch Hancock, Iron Man, and Dark Night. To bad I'm in the Northwest and was visiting family, I'd go again.

NB
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ToySouljah, 18 Sep 2008 @ 9:59pm

Re:
The reason for the high cost of concessions is due to the theater getting a VERY small percentage of the ticket sales. I think it was actually less than a dollar per ticket and so they need to make their money somewhere.
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neil, 19 Sep 2008 @ 1:09am

hmm i will go to the movies to see imax and 3d until i can buy a home theater system that allows me to see imax sized screen and 3d effects then i will not pay for the content anymore.

it seems to me the best drm the industry can use is the good old safe method abstinence. they only let you see it in theaters, then they lock it away for like 3 years and bring it back out, never releasing it onto dvd or any other media. so the best copy you can get is telesync riped from the theater it whould boost movie theater ticket sales.
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Ferin (profile), 19 Sep 2008 @ 5:00am

Big atraction now
The funny thing to me about this is for so long IMAX screens were such a damn waste. One of the local theaters here in columbus got rid of their projector and just offer it as a really huge normal screen now, and now they're kicking themselves because all these movies are suddenly switching over to draw more people in to see it in theater.

I wonder if the theater asscociation will pitch a fit about hollywood cutting into their profits by forcing them to switch over?
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hegemon13, 19 Sep 2008 @ 6:15am

Re:
The best? Sorry, but that would be the end of the movie industry. DVDs generate publicity for sequels, movies by the same director or starring the same actors, etc. DVDs of good movies are advertisements for new movies. For example, how, exactly, would you expect to drum up publicity for Iron Man 2 when no one can see Iron Man?

Besides, what a silly philosophy. "We can't make as much money as we want to because people are pirating our DVD, so let's not sell the movie at all, and then we can make NO MONEY!" Brilliant!
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hegemon13, 19 Sep 2008 @ 6:17am

Re: Big atraction now
No one is forcing them to switch. The movies are available to be shown in non-Imax form for smaller theaters and later runs. If the theater wants to attract more customers, however, it would be a good idea for them to keep up with the times.
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anonEmouse, 19 Sep 2008 @ 6:42am

one of the biggest reasons I no longer go to movies doesn't have that much to do with the movies themselves. IT'S THE RUDE PEOPLE!!! Usually teenagers who don't care about anyone but themselves in the theaters and won't shut up. Also, people who feel the need to bring their 6 month old to a 2 1/2 hour movie. Of course the kid is going to start crying. People who can't bear to turn off their beloved cell phone lest they become disconnected with whomever. People that reek of cigarette smoke. etc etc etc etc
That is why I'm happy to stay at home in front of my large screen, laying on my nice couch, drinking a drink that didn't cost me $5.00 and not having to put up with people. You know who you are.
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James, 19 Sep 2008 @ 8:20am

Awesome! Love IMAX!!
This is great, I'd much rather go to the IMAX theatre, yes it does cost more (about $15) but the sound and picture are better and I've found (at least in my experience) that there seems to be less talking and rude/annoying behavior. Maybe thats because the ones who balk at paying more to see the film are also the idiots who check their cellphone during the film. Fine with me.
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Ferin (profile), 10 Aug 2009 @ 7:48am

Re: Re: Big atraction now
can you scale down the max film to fit it onto a normal screen without making it look really bad though? I thought that there were some problems trying to do that?
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