First 3-D Movie in Years May Be Summertime Hit
The first major motion picture shot in three-dimensional process in a decade, "Comin' At Ya!," appears to be a summertime hit.
The film, a "Spaghetti Western" shot in Spain and Italy for $2.5 million, is being released in the U.S. by Filmways, Inc., whose other major release this summer is "Blow Out," starring John Travolta. In part, because it wasn't sure how to market the 3-D movie, Filmways opened "Comin' At Ya!" at only two locations - Phoenix, Ariz., and Kansas City, Mo.
In its first week in Phoenix, the picture grossed nearly $53,000, or $2,000 more than "Star Wars" did at the same location several years back. "Comin' At Ya!" grossed an additional $26,500 in its first week in Kansas City, which is about as much as "Blow Out" grossed at six theaters in the same area.
As a result of those successes, Filmways - which had a net loss of more than $66 million in the year ended Feb. 28 - is moving the 3-D film into theaters in Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh on Aug. 14 and into New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit on Aug. 21.
A major beneficiary of the film's success may be the Marks Polarized Corp., a New York company that manufactures the 3-D polarized glasses that viewers must wear as well as the polarators that have to be fitted over projectors showing the film. Alvin Marks, president of Marks Polarized, said his company is turning out three million pairs of glasses a week for theaters showing the film. And whereas the company grossed $700,000 in fiscal 1981, Mr. Marks said, "in the year ending May 31, 1982, we're projecting $30 million."
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