Community
Galleria Cinemas to Introduce 3-D
By Diane Phillips & Associates
Mar 17, 2010 - 9:06:38 PM

Nassau, Bahamas - Dragons will lunge faster, cats pounce larger and romance burn brighter when a local chain of theatres introduces 3-D cinema in the coming weeks.

Chris Mortimer, president of Galleria Cinemas Ltd., announced today that four theatres – two screens at Galleria at the Mall at Marathon, one at JFK Galleria on Thompson Boulevard and one theatre at Galleria in Freeport, Grand Bahama – are completing conversion to 3-D capability. Mall at Marathon theatres with some 520 seats in total will come on stream first with the new Dreamworks film How to Train Your Dragon, scheduled to air starting March 26. Conversion at JFK and Freeport is scheduled to be completed with 3-D screens opening April 2.

“3-D was introduced in the 1950s, but languished for decades because there were so few films in that format that it was hard to justify the expense of investing in theatre capability,” said Mortimer. “Now, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of material, 14 3-D films by the end of this year and between 15 and 20 scheduled for release during 2011.”

The 3-D phenomenon got a massive boost with the Christmas release of Avatar, the adventure film based on a fantasy creature with a gentle soul who inhabits a distant planet. The action-packed movie broke all opening weekend box office records, earning $467 million worldwide in the first two weeks and continuing to break records, generating sales of accessories, clothing and DVDs even while the movie is burning up screens.

Avatar’s dramatic and unexpected impact on the industry along with developments in technology and an ever-increasing appetite for family-friendly fantasy-action films spawned the sudden spurt of 3-D films. Now the local theatre that opened its doors in November 1999 is on track with counterparts in the U.S. where the explosion in 3-D is making fast tracks with an expected tenfold increase in theatres with 3-D capability from 427 today to more than 5,000 by the end of next year.

Chris Mortimer, president of Galleria Cinemas Ltd., announced today that four theatres – two screens at Galleria at the Mall at Marathon, one at JFK Galleria on Thompson Boulevard and one theatre at Galleria in Freeport, Grand Bahama – are completing conversion to 3-D capability. Mall at Marathon theatres with some 520 seats in total will come on stream first with the new Dreamworks film How to Train Your Dragon, scheduled to air starting March 26. Conversion at JFK and Freeport is scheduled to be completed with 3-D screens opening April 2.

“3-D was introduced in the 1950s, but languished for decades because there were so few films in that format that it was hard to justify the expense of investing in theatre capability,” said Mortimer. “Now, all of a sudden, there is an explosion of material, 14 3-D films by the end of this year and between 15 and 20 scheduled for release during 2011.”

The 3-D phenomenon got a massive boost with the Christmas release of Avatar, the adventure film based on a fantasy creature with a gentle soul who inhabits a distant planet. The action-packed movie broke all opening weekend box office records, earning $467 million worldwide in the first two weeks and continuing to break records, generating sales of accessories, clothing and DVDs even while the movie is burning up screens.

Avatar’s dramatic and unexpected impact on the industry along with developments in technology and an ever-increasing appetite for family-friendly fantasy-action films spawned the sudden spurt of 3-D films. Now the local theatre that opened its doors in November 1999 is on track with counterparts in the U.S. where the explosion in 3-D is making fast tracks with an expected tenfold increase in theatres with 3-D capability from 427 today to more than 5,000 by the end of next year.