Money /
3D

Studios Fight Theaters on Cost of 3-D Glasses

Shades can cost $10m for popular film
By A Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 22, 2009 2:17 AM CDT

With 50 3-D films due out within two years, studios and theaters are squabbling over who should pay for the requisite glasses. At $1 per moviegoer, 3-D glasses can tack on $10 million to production costs, the Chicago Tribune reports. Movie execs and theaters split a $2 to $3 ticket surcharge on those films, but neither wants to buy glasses with their share.

When Fox refused to foot the optics bill for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, out July 1, one theater company threatened to show it in 2-D. The studio gave in, but points out that theaters can reuse the glasses, so they should provide them. Theaters retort that they already pay thousands in fees and per-ticket royalties for the equipment needed to show 3-D films. (More 3D stories.)

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