The modern movie landscape doesn’t just give the ability to watch any given film, but also the choice of how to watch it. 3D has become ubiquitous for most blockbusters, and next month’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens is no exception. Between 2D and 3D, 70MM IMAX and standard, there are a multitude of different ways to be able to experience the movie. So which one will you choose?
3D has become more and more popular in recent years, but it’s certainly not the automatic choice for everybody. Some people don’t care for the additional ticket cost, while for others the 3D effects can cause them to feel downright ill. In your standard movie theaters, 2D will still have more dedicated screens than the 3D version, making tickets easier to get. Anybody who is attending the full seven movie Star Wars marathon screenings, however, will see the new film in 3D.
A major theater release is considered anything that opens on more than 2,000 screens, but most blockbusters nearly double that number. We fully expect Star Wars to dwarf that, and some estimates have the film opening on as many as 4,500 screens. According to MPAA stats in 2012, of the approximately 42,000 movie screens in North America, about 6,500 of them were 3D. Those numbers will only have increased since then, and while there will be plenty of other movies on many of those standard screens the vast majority, if not the entirety of the 3D screens, will be dedicated to The Force Awakens for the first couple of weeks at least.
If IMAX is your pleasure, you have an additional set of decisions to make. You can either watch the film in 70MM or you can see it in 3D. There’s no option for both. Here your odds are actually much better to see the movie in 3D as there are only 18 theaters in the U.S. who will have the 70MM print. It could be worse, in Canada there is only one. The film is expected to be on as many as 400 IMAX screens in total.
So which version are you going to see? We know many of you have already purchased your tickets, so your decision has been made, at least for your first screening. If the movie is good enough to see more than once, will you plan to see it in different formats? Let us know in the poll below and then give us details in comments.
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