Did Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’ Save 3D?

By the end of last summer, it was starting to look like the 3D revolution might be dead. World War Z and The Wolverwine were two of the biggest movies of the season, but only 30% of the people who saw them were willing to pay extra to see the films in 3D. However, today 3D films are trending upward again.

So what happened between last summer and this summer? Gravity, that's what.

"All it takes is one good movie to spark consumer interest," industry analyst Eric Wold recently told Variety. "Gravity doing what it did got people to think about 3D differently, and it got some people to come back after having a bad experience."

And because of the success of Gravity in 3D, studios are changing their approach altogether. Alfonso Cuaron proved that people will go see 3D films that don't suck, so that's what studios are trying to do. Instead of forcing 3D down everyone's throat, they are trying to make movies that are well-suited for the format.

The results have been promising. Godzilla and Edge of Tomorrow were both shot with 3D in mind, and the directors of both films actively encouraged moviegoers to see them in 3D. So they did. Roughly 50% of the proceeds of these two films have come from 3D showings, which is not quite as good at the 80% mark achieved by Gravity, but nowhere near as bad as the lows of last summer.

So to make a long story short, if you're a fan of 3D movies, you owe Alfonso Cuaron big time. Maybe you should write him a thank you note or something.