IMAGE SOURCE: 3DJournal
BY CHRISTINA MARTIN
You're watching multisource global video news analysis from Newsy.
Movie-goers are willing to fork over a few extra bucks for a 3-D movie... but what about paying for those dorky glasses? Businessweek reports Sony will stop footing the bill in 2012.
“Sony Corp.'s movie studio told theaters in the last several days that it plans to stop paying for the glasses, which cost anywhere from 40 cents to a dollar a pair. The change is set for May, ahead of the release of a couple of 3-D blockbusters.”
Sony spends $5 to $10 million on 3-D glasses per movie...so who’s gonna pay once May 2012 rolls around? Crave Online writer William Bibbiani says theater owners have two options.
“...there's a good chance that theater owners will fight back by reducing the number of 3D movies they offer, since they'll have to justify significantly greater costs just to screen them, or worse... charge audiences even more per film.”
If movie theaters do charge audiences more for 3-D, Clevver TV’s Tatiana Carrier says it comes down to glasses vs licorice.
Tatiana Carrier: “I dont know about you guys, but I already think 3-D movies are pricey as it is. Now adding in a pair of glasses on top of that bill, I might have to say goodbye to my beloved Red Vines.”
A tough economy doesn’t make Sony’s announcement any easier to stomach. The LA Times says another fee for 3-D just won’t work.
“...any settlement that passes along more costs to the consumer is going to be wildly unpopular. That's the real question here: If 3-D is the golden goose, how many times can Hollywood try to kill it before it finally succeeds?”
Warner Brothers has no plans to change their current glasses-lending plan.
Transcript by Newsy
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