Word: polarizing
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...seat IMAX theater in Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 12 was a banner day. On the 53-ft.-high screen that evening: the first full-length feature converted into IMAX 3-D, Warner Bros.' The Polar Express. One performance after the other sold out--and the momentum kept up all weekend, even with ticket prices at $13. When the receipts were counted, this IMAX screen had raked in more for the film's opening than any other theater in the state. "We would've done even better," says John Loeks, CEO of Celebration! Cinemas in Michigan...
...IMAX executives, those results are almost as magical as the snowflakes seemingly drifting down over audiences watching Polar Express in 3-D. While the regular film didn't do as well as expected on its opening weekend, the 3-D version set a record for IMAX, pulling in an average $35,600 per screen--roughly six times as much as conventional theaters. Armed with those numbers, IMAX hopes it can convince Hollywood and theater operators that IMAX movies can draw big crowds at premium prices. For an industry stung by a 4% drop in attendance last year and probably steeper...
...months, IMAX has introduced a new technology that allows multiplex operators to retrofit existing theaters for about $1.6 million. The company also developed a way to digitally convert films to its giant-screen format--making Hollywood blockbusters easily IMAX ready. (At the moment the 3D process used in Polar Express works only on computer-generated films; 3-D live-action movies are a year or two away...
Will IMAX be able to pull couch potatoes away from their plasma TVs? Polar Express's director, Robert Zemeckis, thinks so. "The one thing that IMAX delivers," he says, "you can't get in your home-theater system: this great big, beautiful image." Whether IMAX is the answer to Hollywood's troubles, though, may yet prove to be as ethereal as those magical 3-D snowflakes...
...industry may have no megahit in 2004, but there are always shortages in the holiday season. This year's: the Polar Express train set by Lionel. The movie hasn't done well, but that doesn't seem to matter to kids who are dreaming of that classic toy. My assignment: to find that train. How difficult could it be, especially in a sea of Nintendo lovers? But two high-end boutiques, five discount behemoths and many blank looks later, anxiety sets...