CAN QUALITY FILMS LIKE ‘HUGO’ SAVE 3-D?

Scorsese’s film earned 75% of its revenue from 3-D screens.

Last weekend Martin Scorsese’s new movie Hugo quietly opened in just 1,277 theater around the country. (By contrast The Muppets opened in 3,440 theaters the same weekend.) Hugo ranked fifth with just $11 million at the box office causing some to wonder if the $150 million film will be able to turn a profit.

But little noticed in those numbers was the fact that Hugo earned 75% of its revenue from 3-D screens. The movie, which is Scorsese’s first foray into 3-D, was released about evenly between 2-D and 3-D screens. To put that 75% in perspective, the average family movie earns 60% of its revenue from 3-D, according to investment firm B. Riley.  The recent Puss in Boots earned 51% of its opening weekend gross from 3-D and Kung Fu Panda 2 earned just 45% , according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. Hugo even earned a higher percentage from 3-D screens than Avatar. That movie brought in 71% of its opening weekend gross from 3-D.

Hugo is a movie without a lot of star power that is for the whole family but will likely appeal to adults. It tells the story of a young boy in 1930s Paris who lives in the city train station and looks after the clocks. He becomes embroiled in a mystery when he meets a toy shop owner and his goddaughter.

Paramount made the unusual decision to release Hugo like an art film, giving it what’s called a platform release, instead of like a family blockbuster which would have hit as many as 4,000 theaters its first weekend. Hugo will roll out to a few hundred more screens this weekend and then be in wide release December 9th.

It’s the kind of release studios give to movies they hope will develop strong work of mouth and pick up steam. Hugo has great reviews, scoring a 96 out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes. And on a per-screen average it earned more last weekend than The Muppets which brought in an impressive $30 million total over three days.

If the trend of people going to see the movie in 3-D continues, Hugo could be a turning point for 3-D which has recently fallen out of favor for many viewers. The difference with Hugo: people want to see what filmmaking legend Scorsese has done with the 3-D .