Sunday, August 23, 2015

South-East Asia Still In Love With IMAX 3-D?


Despite being already on the wan in the United States, is South-East Asia still very much in love with IMAX 3-D?

By: Ringo Bones 

To the rest of us, the general “apathy” of 3-D movies in the United States might be reminiscent of that 7-Year Bitch song Sore Subject that goes “I only need one eye to see, the other one confuses me” given that since after James Cameron’s Avatar, interest in IMAX 3-D in the United States seems already in the wan. And even David Letterman’s enthusiasm of IMAX 3-D only seem to make him part of the few who still give a damn about IMAX 3-D in the United States. Strangely, it’s a whole different story here in South-East Asia. 

Back in 2012, it seems quite comprehensible to us IMAX 3-D fans in the surrounding countries that in Mainland China about 3 IMAX 3-D theaters are opened every week and the trend is still going strong three years later. Back in 2013, Greg Foster of IMAX struck a deal to build more than 20 new IMAX theaters in Indonesia. Even IMAX China had filed for a Hong Kong IPO for its booming IMAX theater market as recently as back in May 29.2015. And remember a while back that the first X-Rated IMAX 3-D movie was a South-East Asian production and earned one of the most lucrative openings here rivaling that of big-budget Hollywood counterparts? If only we can convince firms who planned to air 3-D cable TV channels in the United States to air them instead here in South-East Asia.