Seven months ago in the pre-“Avatar” world, no one would have imagined this weekend, when, for several hours on Saturday and Sunday, five of the entertainment and sports industries’ biggest events would be playing in 3D simultaneously on TVs and in theaters.
As the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was being played live in select theaters and on ESPN 3D Sunday and the third place match on Saturday, the first-ever Major League Baseball games in 3DTV were being broadcast — the Yankees in Seattle — and an unprecedented three major movies from three different studios were showing in theaters.
Those three theatrical films were not just showing in theaters, they accounted for three of the top five spots and $100 million over the post holiday weekend July 9-11.
Universal’s first 3D movie, the animated comedy “Despicable Me,” debuted with $56.4 mil. domestically, while Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” collected another $21 mil. in its fourth weekend to become the all-time biggest Pixar movie with $339.2 mil. and the second biggest Disney movie ever behind the $423.3 mil. of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” according to Hollywood.com Box Office. (The next Pirates movie is currently in 3D production.) Meanwhile, the third 3D movie in theaters this weekend, “The Last Airbender” from Nickelodeon/Paramount, picked up another $17 mil. to surpass $100 mil. in two weeks.
It’s worth noting that there were enough 3D theaters to accommodate all three films even without the crutch of IMAX theaters, which are booked with “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” ($235.4 mil. domestically overall in two weeks without the help of 3D) until this Friday when “Inception” opens in IMAX theaters.
If that wasn’t already a full slate of 3D, on Monday Major League Baseball and ESPN 3D will present the annual Home Run Derby in 3D for the first time, followed Tuesday by the inaugural 3D broadcast of the All-Star game by Fox via DirecTV.
One week earlier NASCAR presented its first-ever race in 3D from Daytona on DirecTV’s n3D channel powered by Panasonic, as well as online.
If nothing else, this ever-increasing barrage lays to rest any question of programming commitment from producers and distributors, and the concern about an insufficient volume of content and big-ticket events to justify the purchase of home 3D equipment.
In addition to the simultaneous World Cup and Yankees game on Sunday, DirecTV subscribers could also choose to watch the IMAX documentary “Deep Sea 3D” on another channel. Not only is there the Home Run Derby and All-Star game on Monday and Tuesday, this week DirecTV is also offering “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 3D, the IMAX documentary “NASCAR 3D,” and a nature program and Peter Gabriel music special in 3D.
And less than three weeks from now, two more 3D movies will be released in theaters within eight days of each other from July 30 – August 6 — Warner’s “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” and Disney’s “Step Up 3D,” with at least one more coming before the end of the summer — “Piranha 3D” from Dimension Films on Aug. 20.
— By Scott Hettrick