Spain Sees 3-D as Admissions Savior
Ravaged by piracy and the fickleness of young audiences distracted by other leisure alternatives, theater admissions in Spain fell 25% between 2004 and 2008. With the market in desperate need of a boost, many analysts are looking to 3-D. Having bowed April 3, Monsters vs. Aliens became Spain's biggest 3-D opener to date. The DreamWorks release pulled in $4.5 million, with 3-D fare accounting for 38% of the total B.O. in Spain ($11.8 million) through April 26.
More than a dozen titles will open in Spain this year in the digital 3-D format, including Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Up, G-Force, A Christmas Carol and Avatar — all from the U.S.
Exhibitors appreciate 3-D films' competitive advantages: a technological buffer against illegal downloads and a filmgoing experience that still cannot be enjoyed at home.
"3-D can attract new audience influx and frequency, but it's an incremental business, not a substitute for 2-D," warns Fernando Evole, CEO of exhibitor Yelmo Cines.
If not a panacea for Spain's troubled exhibition-distribution market, 3-D could reinforce the notion of cinema as big entertainment.
"It will help maintain a clear and distinctive attraction to enjoying movies in theaters, which (has been) somewhat diluted," says Hispano Foxfilms managing director Miguel Lustau.
Spain's 3-D screen count is already rising fast. From November to April, the number of 3-D screens mushroomed from 22 to 85. Screen Digest estimates a total 127 digital 3-D screens by the end of the year and more than 265 by the end of 2012, which would constitute more than 6% of the total screens in the country.
"Until January, Spanish exhibitors were reluctant about how to cover the investment," says Barcelona-based filmmaker Jordi Llompart. "Once convinced that 3-D works, they've put their pedal to the metal."
However, Spanish exhibition faces obstacles for digital 3-D development.
Digitalization, an obligatory step to introduce 3-D in theaters, comes in tough times. Exhibitor lobby Fece estimates the costs of digitalization at north of $1.3 billion. And conversion is far from being completed.
But bigger circuits are betting energetically on digital 3-D growth. Exhibition giant Cinesa-Odeon-UCI announced in March that 32 of its 375 screens in Spain will incorporate 3-D. Yelmo Cines will boast 23 digital 3-D screens among its 351 total.
Spanish producers have begun to react to the predictable torrent of big international 3-D film releases. Llompart's $13.3 million children's adventure Magic Journey to Africa was made for 3-D and large-format screens. Produced by Orbita Max, Catalonia's TV3 and Apuntolapospo, it toplines Leonor Watling (The Oxford Murders).
Llompart sees 3-D as the next logical step for him after filming his doc Mystery of the Nile in the Imax format, partnering with California's MacGillivray Freeman Films. Nile took $42 million worldwide since bowing in 2005.
Eighty percent of Orbita's expected returns from Magic Journey will come from digital 3-D, and 20% from the Imax platform.
For stereoscopic imaging supervisor Enrique Criado, who's working on upcoming 3-D films Regina Verbum and Soulless, 3-D enhances film narrative. "Any type of film can work in digital 3-D, because we aren't aiming at flashy effects but rather hyper-realistic films," he says.
3-D costs can increase a film's budget 10% to 30%, says Criado, which can be prohibitive for some Spanish producers.
Kandor Moon, Antonio Banderas' joint production venture, has $20 million 3-D animated movie Goleor, the Spade and the Sword, a futuristic medieval fantasy, directed by Manuel Sicilia. BRB Intl. has announced a full-length 3-D film based on the TV series Bernard, skedded for summer 2012 release.
With few digital 3-D screens, one challenge for Spanish producers will be to access screen space when their 3-D pics compete with big studio releases. As international film productions dominate the new 3-D market, Spanish films' already low domestic market quota risks falling even further.
Says Llompart: "Spanish producers must make more spectacular films to win a space in the cinema of the future."
By Emiliano De Pablos, Variety
