06/16/2008: "Fly Me To The Moon’s success encouraging for the future of 3D"
European exhibitor Kinepolis in Belgium, France and Spain have been keen to take on alternative 3-D films. They not only want to test the market but also ensure a steady 3-D product stream once they start promoting the format, says Variety. Fly Me to the Moon, a family animation conceived in 3-D by Belgium toon shop nWave, found a willing public in its home country with 87,946 admissions in its first two months. “It was a real success,” says Maud Van de Velde, content director at Kinepolis, “and it is still playing now.” Ben Stassen, nWave topper and director of Fly Me to the Moon, also had to educate European exhibitors about 3-D. “There is an appetite for it but more of a wait-and-see attitude,” he says. Once the Hollywood wave breaks, he thinks small genre films will have a hard time. “You can’t start doing niche marketing in a place where there are not enough screens for the major films.”
