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Theater Turnaround Based on Digital Cinema

Hollywood Reporter -- Boxoffice king James Cameron issued a call to arm theaters with digital cinema and digital 3-D in response to declining cinema receipts and rampant movie piracy during his keynote address at the National Association of Broadcasters' Digital Cinema Summit.

"We're in a fight for survival here," Cameron told the overflow crowd in the Las Vegas Convention Center. "Maybe we just need to fight back harder, come out blazing, not wither away and die. D-cinema can do it, for a number of reasons, but because d-cinema is an enabling technology for 3-D. Digital 3-D is a revolutionary form of showmanship that is within our grasp. It can get people off their butts and away from their portable devices and get people back in the theaters where they belong."

With filmmakers and exhibitors united behind the idea of enhanced cinema experiences, Cameron predicted that studios would become even more focused on both releasing new titles and rereleasing classics in 3-D digital cinema.

Among other points made during his keynote, Cameron called to stamp out any new attempts to make anaglyph 35mm films because it only would confuse the marketplace and undermine the emergence of digital 3-D. He also noted that digital projectors combined with 3-D could be a new way for exhibitors to program live events and charge more for admissions, and he said that there is a proliferation of filmmakers who want to shoot in 3-D because it is a revolutionary form of showmanship, and directors want to create their own individual stereo aesthetics.

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