WILL MOVIEGOERS BUY TICKETS FOR 48 FPS HOBBIT?

Many box-office pundits are predicting that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be packing the more than 4,000 theaters screening it next weekend. But whether those moviegoers be heading for the 450 theaters screening it at 48 frames per second remains an open question. About 60 percent of social media discussions about the new technology are negative, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Tuesday), citing a study by research firm Fizziology. Only 10 percent are positive, while 30 percent are neutral. Presumably, nearly all of those online discussions are among people who have never actually seen a film projected at 48 frames per second and are based on reports of a preview screening of the film that drew mixed reviews. (The high frame rate has also been employed on so-called ride films shown mostly at amusement parks, without drawing negative comment.) Jackson has been busy defending the technology. In an interview with the BBC he acknowledged that “it takes people some time to get used to it,” but that after watching films at the high frame rate, the old 24 frames per second “looks primitive” to him.