2009 has been a fantastic year for the world of 3D cinema. Movie lovers worldwide have been treated to a wide variety of 3D content, ranging from the gory ‘My Bloody Valentine 3D’, to the heartwarming Disney-Pixar film ‘Up’. Box Office figures have reached over a massive $1.3billion this year, and that’s prior to the release of AVATAR, James Cameron’s 3D epic that is released this Friday.

The hype surrounding AVATAR is unbelievable, I just hope it lives up to people’s expectations, after all AVATAR has been referred to as ‘the film that will revolutionize the face of cinema’.

The box office figures for this year’s 3D releases have more than tripled 2008’s figures. Last year, 3D cinema saw a box office revenue of around $307 million, and this year that has risen to a dominating $1.3 billion.

The years 3D leader at the domestic box office is Disney-Pixar’s ‘Up’. It has raised over $293 million alone in the United States and it has grossed over $390 million in the rest of the world. The international winner however is ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’. The film grossed an amazing $687.1 million outside of the US, and including the $196.6 million it made in the states, the 20^th Century Fox film reached a worldwide total of $883.7 million.

The conversion of cinema screens to 3D has been picking up pace over the last few months, as exhibitors prepare themselves for the release of AVATAR.

The two world leaders within the 3D world are RealD and Dolby 3D Digital, however RealD are regarded as the world’s number one. Avatar is set to be shown in RealD 3D and the film’s director had nothing but praise for the 3D company. He said that the company has”done a tremendous job building a global platform in a short period of time where filmmakers can showcase their work using this new cinematic medium.”

Other $100 million topping 3D titles within the United States box office are; Monsters vs. Aliens ($198.4 million), A Christmas Carol ($124.4 million so far), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($122.7 million) and G-Force ($119.4 million).

2010 is looking to be a very exciting year for the 3D industry and consumers. 3D televisions, 3D PC and console gaming and 3D blu-ray players will all be made commercially available, as well as the cinema seeing another surge of 3D movies.

Source: variety.com