3D SAVES BOX OFFICE

If it hadn’t been for 3D, the summer box office would have seen the worst returns in 13 years, figures released on Friday indicated. Ticket sales fell to 552 million, the fewest since 1997, although total receipts rose to a record $4.35 billion — up 2 percent from last summer. The results appeared to validate theater owners’ decision to install expensive 3D digital projectors and IMAX-dedicated auditoriums. But the Los Angeles Times observed on Saturday that the 3D phenomenon may be coming to an end. “Many in Hollywood concede that the public’s appetite for paying extra to put on glasses and see images leap out of the screen may already be reaching a limit,” the newspaper observed, noting that several recent 3D movies have bombed, including Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Step Up 3-D, and Piranha 3-D.