‘Dragon’ versus ‘Titans’ versus ‘Alice’ in fight over 3-D screens

LOS ANGELES — In the wake of the blockbuster “Avatar,” Hollywood’s obsession with 3-D has hit a roadblock.

Paramount Pictures is using high-pressure tactics
against theaters to book DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming big-budget 3-D
film, “How to Train Your Dragon” onto scarce 3-D screens around the
country, according to industry executives. “Dragon,” opening March 26, will be going head to head against the swords-and-sandal 3-D picture “Clash of the Titans,” from Warner Bros., which opens a week later, and Disney’s 3-D “Alice in Wonderland,” still drawing audiences and expected to remain in theaters for several more weeks.

Paramount Pictures is telling theaters that if they don’t show the upcoming DreamWorks-produced
“Dragon,” on a 3-D screen, then it will withhold from the theater a 2-D
version of the movie to play instead, according to four theater
industry executives, who asked not to be identified for fear of
reprisal. Many multiplexes only have a single 3-D screen, so not having
a conventional version of the highly anticipated DreamWorks family film to play on their other screens would severely affect ticket sales.

“The message is: If you have one 3-D screen
available and you don’t play (“Dragon”), they’re not going to give you
the version in 2-D,” one California theater operator said. “It’s an underhanded threat.”

Studios are also engaged in the mogul equivalent of hand-to-hand combat over scarce 3-D screens.

Last month DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of Hollywood’s biggest champions of 3-D filmmaking, fired off an e-mail to Barry Meyer, chief executive of Warner Bros.,
over the studio’s decision to convert “Clash of the Titans” to 3-D from
2-D and open it only a week after “Dragon” was set to debut in theaters.

Disney, meanwhile, is pressing theaters to continue playing “Alice,” which so far has racked up more than $215 million in domestic ticket sales. Warner Bros.
is aggressively lobbying them to forego “Dragon” in order to book
“Titans” the next week, according to people familiar with the
situation. The Warner Bros. picture is on track for a strong opening of about $50 million, according to market surveys.

A Paramount spokeswoman declined to comment about the studio’s efforts to place “How to Train Your Dragon” on 3-D screens.

The jockeying among studios underscores how much is
at stake with their costly 3-D bets in the aftermath of “Avatar,” which
has sent Hollywood scrambling to stud release schedules with the splashy special-effects films. A 3-D movie adds at least $10 million
to the cost of a conventional 2-D production, making it crucial that
films land on 3-D screens where studios recapture their investment
through higher ticket prices.

The three largest U.S. theater circuits recently secured $660 million
in financing that would double the number of digital 3-D screens, but
it will be months before the technology is installed, causing an acute
shortage. There are about 3,500 3-D screens in the U.S. and Canada, less than 10 percent of the total. That’s not enough to accommodate two 3-D movies at the same time, let alone three.

The problem is acute for smaller regional theater
chains that often have just one 3-D screen in a multiplex, forcing them
into a tough decision, potentially alienating a studio upon which they
rely for movies.

Nonetheless, with audiences showing a preference to
see spectacles like “Avatar” in 3-D and ticket price surcharges
boosting revenues, studios are teeing up one 3-D film after another.
Nineteen 3-D movies are scheduled in theaters this year, up from 14 in
2009.

The outsized performance of “Alice” has only
exacerbated the bottleneck for 3-D screens, since theaters are
reluctant to pull it as long as it continues to generate tens of
millions in ticket sales in coming weeks.

“This is the most unusual and intense situation that I’ve ever seen,” said Robert Bagby, a 30 year-industry veteran who is president of Missouri-based
B&B Theatres, which has 200 screens, only about 40 of which are
3-D. “Of course, it’s a wonderful problem for us that 3-D is doing so
well in the market that we’re having these kinds of issues.”

DreamWorks Animation’s Katzenberg has frequently
touted the benefits of 3-D to the public and as a boon to his company’s
investors. The studio now produces all of his movies in 3-D.

The normally outspoken Hollywood
executive, who regularly has a high profile at ShoWest, the theater
industry’s annual trade show, wasn’t a presence at this week’s event in
Las Vegas
where the 3-D conflict was a hot topic of conversation. Instead, he
held a private screening of DreamWorks Animation’s May release, “Shrek
Forever After,” for overseas theater operators”

Katzenberg set up the screening for the third sequel
in the “Shrek” franchise because the screening slot he wanted at the
ShoWest convention featured rival Disney/Pixar’s
3-D summer movie, “Toy Story 3,” according to two people familiar with
the matter. Katzenberg did not respond to a request for comment and a
spokesperson for DreamWorks Animation declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Paramount denied that a
screening slot was sought. She said ShoWest requested to screen “Shrek
Forever After,” but the studio declined because that would prevent it
from premiering the movie next month at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York

Katzenberg has downplayed the squeeze for 3-D
screens and what it means for DreamWorks Animation, which has three 3-D
movies this year. He told analysts recently that “we will have more
than enough screens to accommodate our audiences in 3-D” for “Dragons.”

One person close to the studio said Paramount was confident that it would book about the same number of 3-D screens to play “Dragon” as Disney secured for “Alice in Wonderland” on its opening weekend: 2,063.

Fights for 3-D screens should die down by next year
once exhibitors have added enough screens to handle the supply of
movies, said Gerry Lopez, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, one of the nation’s largest theater chains. In the meantime, he said, both sides should try to work together.

“We’ve got people out there threatening theater
operators,” Lopez said. “It’s a dangerous game. … I don’t think this
is part of a productive solution.”

———

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.