Disney’s “Chicken Little” sparks 3-D “Robinsons”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Pictures on Thursday
said it will release an upcoming computer animated movie, “Meet
the Robinsons,” in a three-dimensional version following the
success of current 3-D hit “Chicken Little.”

The 3-D “Chicken Little” is being closely watched in
Hollywood as an early test of alternative types of movies made
for new digital cinema systems. The industry is in a very
early, tentative stage of a transition to digital projection
from old celluloid filmstrip.

The 3-D computer animated “Chicken Little” raked in an
average $26,000 per theater in its opening weekend this month
in 79 venues equipped with new digital projectors. Ticket sales
in over 3,600 theaters showing a traditional film averaged
$10,961, Disney said in a statement.

“The box office performance level of the 3-D theaters
proves that the public is not only embracing the story but the
newest in innovative technology as well,” said Disney movie
distribution chief Chuck Viane.

Digital projection is a new form of movie screening and
distribution that promises Hollywood’s studios lower costs,
audiences a crisper picture and theater owners new ways to lure
moviegoers to box offices.

But the systems’ costs range from $80,000 to $100,000 per
system, so theater owners have been reluctant to install them.

Disney expects to be able to release the 3-D “Robinsons” in
750 to 1000 screens as a digital cinema transition expands.

“Robinsons” is based on a book by William Joyce in which a
young boy travels into the future and meets an eccentric
family, the Robinsons, who will change his life.

For the 3-D “Chicken Little,” Disney partnered with
equipment provider Dolby Digital and effects company Industrial
Light & Magic to outfit theaters. The 3-D film was made using
technology provided by California-based Real D.

Disney is a unit of The Walt Disney Co. and Dolby is part
of Dolby Laboratories. Industrial Light & Magic and Real D are
privately held.