Just as in the
1950s, the 3D fad is fading, with the number of films falling from 47 in 2011 to 33 this year.
Despite a record 47
films released in 3D last year, including the final Harry Potter and the latest
in the Transformers franchise, box-office receipts for the format fell £7m to £230m , reducing its share of total ticket sales from
24% to 20%.
The Lion King's
re-release in 3D failed to impress, as did Kung Fu Panda 2, with half its
audiences opting to see it in two dimensions. As a result, the average takings
per 3D film slumped from £8.5m
in 2010, when there were just 28 in
the genre, to £4.9m , according
to a report by research firm Enders Analysis.
"A few years
ago people went to 3D films just to see what it was like," said the
report's author, Alice Enders. "That period of experimentation is over.
The reality has set in and the momentum has gone. The recession is a factor and
families are pushing back against 3D."
With 3D tickets
costing on average 30% more at Odeon and Vue cinemas than other films, and with
the added cost of glasses, which small children and those who wear contact
lenses and spectacles often find uncomfortable, the format is losing its
lustre. The biggest-grossing film of 2011, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part 2, was released in both formats but took just 48% of its box-office income
from 3D screenings, suggesting that the JK Rowling generation, now starting
university or battling for jobs, are feeling the pinch.
Home-grown hits
enjoyed a record year, taking the second and third slots at the UK 46m , while
adolescent comedy TV series turned feature film The Inbetweeners Movie netted £45m . The King's Speech was made on an
estimated budget of £9.5m ,
The Inbetweeners Movie on only £3.5m .
Their performance
meant British films, both Independent and US-backed, took 36% of box office
receipts, their biggest share in 10 years. Of those, 14% were independent
films, the highest share achieved by features without foreign investment.
The release of
Avatar in 2009 – with a budget of $237m
– ushered in a 3D craze which boosted UK 164m to 174m , their highest for seven years, and with cinemas
able to charge a premium for the new format, takings rose even more dramatically,
climbing from £854m in 2008
to £1.04bn in 2011.
It was a trend that
seemed to defy the odds after audiences had become increasingly distracted by
the wide array of video available at home from a growing number of digital
channels, American TV series box sets, the Lovefilm home rental service and
legal or pirated films online.
The UK is the second-largest market for theatrical
exhibition in Europe, behind France
and ahead of Germany
But the 3D fad looks
to be running out of steam, just as it did in the 1950s. This year, the number
of 3D films released in the UK
The year has started
strongly for domestic cinema with Daniel Radcliffe's period horror The Woman in
Black, made by King's Speech studio Momentum, dominating the league tables with
takings of £14m . But
British films are unlikely to fill the vacuum left now that the Harry Potter
franchise has come to an end, and both the Twilight and Pirates of the Caribbean sagas appear to be losing their pull.
"Fuel costs
have risen, people are more careful about out-of-home travel; all these are
long-term trends that are draining people away from the cinemas," said
Enders.
