Fans will pay the same ticket price to see Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit,” at 48 frames per second as they will to see it at 24fps, the traditional projection speed of movies for decades. The first of three films, still titled “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” hits theaters world wide on December 14 with the world premiere scheduled in Wellington, New Zealand November 28.
It isn’t clear yet how many theaters will upgrade to the technology needed to display the film at the higher rate, at at an expense, The Hollywood Reporter sites a source “close to the situation,” saying that U.S. distributor Warner Bros. has received assurances from exhibitors that ticket prices will not go up for the screenings.
Film fans, including those at TheOneRing.net, have been known to prefer traditional 2D films to 3D and others have complained about higher prices for the extra visual dynamics. But unlike 3D vs. 2D screenings, prices will maintain the same rate. Jackson said months ago at CinemaCon where he screened the 48fps footage, that his intention was not to raise prices for the new screenings.
“As an industry there is a certain amount of trouble that we are in; kids seem to think watching a movie on an iPad is an okay think to do,” Jackson said to THR. “Advocating that we have to stick with what we know [24 fps] I think is a slightly narrow mined way of looking at things when as an industry we are facing declining audiences. We have to find ways to make it more vibrant, more immersive – something that will encourage people to come back to the theaters for that experience.”
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