The next generation of 3-D has arrived at movie theaters
04:53 PM CDT on Friday, August 21, 2009
When it comes to electronics, innovation is everything. And when it comes to the movie industry, innovation often means staying ahead of what it is you're able to duplicate at home – at least for a while.
So it is with Dolby 3D, which industry experts say puts an entirely new spin on the 3-D experience, which up to now has often put the clunk in clunky. On Friday, the upwardly mobile Dallas-based chain Studio Movie Grill became the first cinematic exhibitor in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to roll out Dolby 3D.
It did so with X Games 3D: The Movie, which, at least initially, is showing only at its location at Royal Lane and North Central Expressway.
"I would compare it to the difference between a regular TV monitor and a high-definition monitor. It's that significant," says Brian Schultz, 40, the owner and founder of Studio Movie Grill.
Sarah Pearce, director of operations for the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, says any theater would be dramatically enhanced by Dolby 3D, which caused quite a stir at Sundance in 2008 with the U2 concert movie, U2 3D.
"For us, it was really incredible," Pearce says. "It blew everyone away. And because it was a concert movie, the audience dealt with it like it was a real concert. They were so moved by the technology, they would do the things you normally do at a concert. They were standing on their seats, holding up their cellphones."
Not every theater has Dolby 3D, of course, and James Meredith, the vice president of marketing and communications at the Plano-based Cinemark chain, says his company is thrilled with RealD, which he contends "provides the brightest 3-D image and clearest picture for the largest screens." At its West Plano flagship, Cinemark sports a 70-foot-wide, 38-foot-tall screen that Meredith says has helped it become the highest-grossing movie house in the area.
Regardless of brand, Meredith describes the present as a landmark era in motion picture exhibition, with a flood of new technology pouring into theaters seemingly every day.
"With the advent of digital projection, you have the ability to do a lot of things that you simply couldn't do in the past," he says.
Studio Movie Grill has seven locations in the Dallas and Houston metro areas and will soon expand, with locations in Atlanta and Kansas City, Mo., set to open in 2010.
"The 'staycation,' as we call it, has boded extremely well for us," says Schultz, who lives in Dallas.
Schultz launched the concept at the Granada Theater in 1994. In 2000, it became Studio Movie Grill, which treats patrons to a big-screen, big-sound experience while letting them lounge in reclining leather chairs and order from a varied menu that includes beer and mixed drinks. Schultz long ago left the Granada, but Studio Movie Grill, whose team also includes Schultz's business partner Martin Massman, now shows the flag at the Dallas Royal Lane location and in Addison, Plano, Lewisville, Arlington and two Houston locations.
Schultz cites the company mantra of "creating an immersive experience" in explaining the advent of Dolby 3D, which he concedes is quite expensive. It is, he says, "two and a half times" costlier than either of its two competitors in the 3-D market.
Dolby 3D requires more sophisticated eyewear, which Schultz says costs a daunting $28 a pair. He ordered 900 pairs for each location, which adds up to more than $25,000 at each Studio Movie Grill. He checked out Dolby 3D at a recent trade show in Las Vegas and loved what he saw.
X Games 3D: The Movie, a documentary that offers a 3-D cinematic version of the X Games as seen on ESPN, is the first of a stream of new releases that Studio Movie Grill plans to show using Dolby 3D. Later this year, Schultz has scheduled The Final Destination, a horror movie opening Friday, followed by the animated Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Sept. 18) and the re-releases of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (Oct. 2) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (Oct. 23).
But that's not all. There will be a Dolby 3D version of Michael Jackson's This Is It, a musical documentary about the rock star opening Oct. 30, followed by A Christmas Carol (Nov. 6), with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. Lynne McQuaker, director of creative affairs at Studio Movie Grill, says one of the boldest examples of Dolby 3D promises to be the highly anticipated Avatar, director James Cameron's first feature film since Titanic. It opens Dec. 18.
Schultz says the chain is exploring plans to show college and professional football and live concerts, with one already booked – an appearance by Kenny Chesney in Dolby 3D on April 21.
Schultz held out for a better version of 3-D, he says, because he never felt that conventional 3-D came close to "the immersive experience" he hopes to offer.
"Literally, I've never seen anything like it," Schultz says of Dolby 3D. "It is absolutely unbelievable."
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