Since the release of Avatar, it seems like there has been an explosion of movies being released in 3D. And with a hefty surcharge for 3D movie tickets, it is not hard to understand why. But is it true that more and more movies are being released in 3D? And are these movies really dominating the movie industry? On the left, you can see the proportion of movies that were released in 3D from 2006 to 2016, and the revenue generated from those movies. The number of movies being released in 3D has actually been fairly stable since 2011, about a year after Avatar’s release. The revenue from those 3D movies however has continued to skyrocket. In 2016, 3D movies accounted for only 20% of movie releases, but brought in just over 50% of the box office revenue. That means that the average 3D movie brings in 4x the revenue as an average 2D movie. In terms of a box office boxing match, this is equivalent to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the highest earning actor in 2016, facing off against a 9-year old boy.
Data on the Rocks 