Theater-goers to be Forced to Pay for 3-D Glasses at Cinema
Sony Corp. has announced in a letter to cinema companies starting next May they will no longer be providing movie theaters with 3-D glasses for their movies because it is costing them millions of dollars per film.
This announcement comes on the heels of two blockbuster movies Sony will be releasing, "Men in Black III" and "The Amazing Spider-Man," both in 3-D.
This change is occurring because of the struggling economy in the movie studio industry with declining DVD sales, and lack luster digital sales.
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Moviegoers are sure to be frustrated because of the already expensive nature of the theaters without having to pay for the added expense of disposable 3-D glasses. Overall this move could wind up hurting the theaters even more. Some theaters are charging moviegoers upwards of $20 for a 3-D movie.
However, this may not necessarily be the case as theaters and advertisers could pick the tab up, but it's unlikely.
The studios wanted to give the theaters plenty of time to adjust and to plan accordingly for the latest announcement which could cost billions of dollars.
Rival studio, Warner Bros., would not say what their deal with the theaters is, but said their policy was going to remain the same.
"The glasses issues are complicated and they vary from studio to studio," said Dan Fellmen, head of domestic distribution.
He went on to say, "We certainly will do what's right for us. Right now we really don't have any plans to change the way we do business."
Ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada are up 6 percent, with the average being $7.89 but New York and Los Angeles prices are double that. Attendance is down 6 percent as well.
In the long run, the only reason why 2010 was not a losing session for theaters was because 3-D sales are more expensive.
