Wanna know why movies are called flicks? It’s because of the flickering light that’s emitted from film projectors. Like smoking, smell-o-vision, and intermissions, it looks like 35MM films and their projectors are on their way out of the cinema.
According to a report from IHS Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service 2012 will “mark the crossover point when digital technology overtakes 35mm.” This is bad news for film purists like Quentin Tarantino and Steve Spielberg. It’s actually good news for Smurf-documentarian James Cameron. According the IHS head of film and cinema research David Hancock, Avatar was the tipping point pushing theatres toward digital projection.
According to Hancock, before Avatar digital projection accounted for 15-percent of global screens. After the film was released, digital projection grew 17-percent in both 2010 and 2011. Here are some more harrowing items from the report for lovers of celluloid:
By the end of 2012, the share of 35mm will decline to 37 per cent of global cinema screens, with digital accounting for the remaining 63 per cent. This represents a dramatic decline for 35mm, which was used in 68 per cent of global cinema screens in 2010. In 2015, 35mm will be used in just 17 per cent of global movie screens, relegating it to a niche projection format.
It was bound to happen eventually. While I wait, I’m going to watch a few Goddard flicks at the local independent theatre. [MSNBC]