16/10/2008

The major possibilities of 3D film and its potential in terms of attracting audiences (in particular young viewers) have convinced French group MK2 to launch into the adventure. As French distributor of Ben Stassen’s Belgian 3D digital animated film Fly Me to the Moon (produced by nWave), which will be released on October 29, MK2 will equip seven movie theatres in Paris with 3D digital technology.

"We really believe in 3D film" explained Nathanael Karmitz, director general of MK2. He continued: "It’s not just a new method of distribution, but a new way of telling stories and offering them to audiences. It’s a development and a revolution in the history of cinema, comparable to the transition from silent to talking films. For nothing in the world would we miss this opportunity!"

The chosen 3D system (Nuvision) offers viewers self-activating glasses, which are synchronised with the projector via an infrared signal emitted from the projection room. This makes it possible to see a perfect 3D image while two images are projected simultaneously onto the screen, one for the right eye and the other for the left eye. The companies Cinemeccanica and ADDE have equipped the seven projection rooms with Doremi servers and Barco and NEC projectors.

Exhibitors’ appetite for 3D film has been whetted by the results of the July release of US feature Journey to the Centre of the Earth (distributed by Metropolitan). Around 40% of admissions in France were for the 30 3D screens, which nonetheless represented less than 10% of the overall number of prints.

For Fly Me to the Moon – which is the first European 3D animated film – MK2 have decided to release the film exclusively in 3D in around 50 French theatres.

MK2 has a network of 58 screens spread out over 10 establishments in Paris. On the distribution side, the company headed by Marin and Nathanael Karmitz have recently managed the successful launch of UK director Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Belgian/French production Rumba [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Dominique Abel and Fiona Go…
film profile].

MK2’s line-up also includes Cannes Camera d’Or winner Hunger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Hastings-Smith Rob…
interview: Steve McQueen
film profile] by the UK’s Steve McQueen (release date: November 26), Austrian director Götz Splielmann’s Revanche [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Götz Spielmann
film profile] (January 2009), Gilles Béhat’s Diamond 13 (production MK2 - set to be released in the first trimester of 2009) and French 3D animated film The True Story of Puss ‘N Boots by Pascal Hérold and Jérôme Deschamps (April 2009).

On the production side, Abdellatif Kechiche is next year set to shoot the first of three films piloted by MK2.

(Translated from French)