AMC Entertainment Goes 3D with RealD

AMC Entertainment Inc. will add as many as 1,500 of RealD’s 3D-enabled screens to its theaters in the United States and Canada. Kansas City-based AMC said in a Thursday release that the rollout of the screens already has started and that it is adding more monthly. AMC spokesman Justin Scott said in an interview that AMC and RealD have had a relationship since 2005, when AMC tested RealD’s screens in about a dozen theaters. As of Friday, AMC will have 146 RealD screens in its theaters. Tickets for movies shown on the 3D screens generally cost about $2 more than for regular movies, he said.

Scott had no timeline for outfitting all AMC theaters with the screens through the companies’ multiyear agreement. The companies’ agreement brings RealD’s 3D network to nearly 8,000 committed screens worldwide, with about 2,600 of the screens installed. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. AMC CEO Gerry Lopez said in the release that the company intends to eventually have at least one RealD screen in each of its theaters.

Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theater Owners, said in a recent interview that “3D is suddenly taking off, but it’s dependent upon digital projectors. At present, there are only about 1700 3D screens in the U.S. We expect about 2,000 by the time “Monsters vs. Aliens” comes out (on Friday). But instead of being able to roll digital across the industry and pick up lots of 3D screens, they’ve only been able to pick up a little bit. It’s incremental — they’re financing as they can.”

Source: MSN Money