The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will make Tolkien fans face their own epic decision: Which format will they see Peter Jackson’s movie in? The call they make might send them on their own unexpected journey — or launch a nerdy war over the latest movie technology.
The first installment of Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy is the first movie ever shown in the controversial new high-frame-rate format, dubbed “HFR,” that displays the film at 48 frames per second (twice the standard). HFR’s extra-crisp image met mixed reviews in early screenings.
While the combination of the geeky Lord of the Rings fan base and cutting-edge movie technology should kill at the box office, it could also be a new source of nerd outrage, according to Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.
“They have this sense of what a Lord of the Rings movie looks and feels like. So, if you mess around with that, it’s potentially dangerous,” Contrino told Wired by phone. “I could see hard-core fans loving [HFR], and loving the realism, and I can also see hard-core fans saying, ‘No, don’t mess with something that works. Give me the version of Lord of the Rings that I like.’ You know, you’re talking about the same crowd that bashes everything new that comes out in the Star Wars universe.”
Like 3-D, which got a giant boost when Avatar wowed the world, HFR is the movie industry’s latest shiny new technology aimed at filling cinema seats. But like 3-D, HFR has its detractors: While HFR is Jackson’s preferred format, footage screened at movie industry convention CinemaCon this spring left some viewers grumbling.
“It reminds me of when I first saw Blu-ray, in that it takes away that warm feeling of film,” an anonymous theater chain owner told Variety after the Las Vegas screening. “It looked to me like a behind-the-scenes featurette.”
Contrino, who saw the 10 or 12 minutes of unfinished 2-D Hobbit footage shown at CinemaCon, called the depth of focus and clarity of the image amazing, but said it could be “a jarring experience.” While he admitted that “reactions were less than enthusiastic,” he said anybody claiming HFR will meet an untimely death is akin to naysayers in the early days of cinema who groused about the additions of sound and color.
“Do I want to be the one that bets against new technology? No.” Contrino said. “Nothing is perfect when it starts.” While he hasn’t seen any 3-D HFR footage, he predicted that the two would be a perfect fit.
In addition to the potential controversy over the high-def imagery, HFR adds another acronym to the alphabet soup of formats ready to baffle moviegoers. Anyone shopping online for an advance ticket to The Hobbit will see the movie listed in six formats: HFR Imax 3-D, HFR 3-D, Imax 3-D, Imax 2-D, regular 3-D and boring old 2-D. To make matters worse (or better, depending on your taste for the latest tech), there’s an audio wild card: A few theaters will be screening the film using Dolby’s new 64-channel Atmos sound system, an option that could increase bewilderment.
Since not all theaters can show the movie in all formats, viewers set on a certain type of experience will need to do some advance legwork to locate the appropriate theater. Moviegoers hoping to catch the film in the highest-possible definition might be facing their own unexpected journey: Only 450 U.S. theaters are equipped for HFR screenings, according to the Los Angeles Times, so road trips might be in order.
Many movie fans and Tolkien freaks will undoubtedly be seeking out their first look at the latest technology. To ease the search, Tolkien superfan site TheOneRing.net has compiled a Hobbit Theater Cheat Sheet that breaks down exactly which formats the movie will be shown in at various locations. It might not be quite as magical as Thorin’s map, but it’s still incredibly useful.
Made up your mind on the best format for you? Tickets for The Hobbit went on sale Wednesday. The movie is making a strong showing, with 33 percent of tickets sold through Fandango, putting it ahead of two big competitors: new James Bond movie Skyfall (31 percent) and sparkly vampire flick The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (28 percent), according to figures provided to Wired by the ticket retailer.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens Dec. 14.
An Unexpected Bonus: New The Hobbit Videos
It seems like there are more new Hobbit videos than Orcs in the Misty Mountains:
- With the movie just eight days away, the marketing push is coming on strong. Warner Bros. Pictures released four new TV spots Wednesday that offer up a few new nuggets while slicing and dicing previously seen footage in a campaign to spur advance ticket sales.
- Air New Zealand, which is currently spiking its pre-flight informational briefing with characters from Middle-earth (including Gollum), has released a behind-the-scenes video that shows how the most preciousssss safety video ever was made.
- Some guy made a Bag End replica out of 2,600 balloons. That is all.
See these Hobbit videos in the Storify below.
<em>The Hobbit</em> Could Send Movie Fans on Unexpected Journeys — or Start a Nerd War
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<em>The Hobbit</em> Could Send Movie Fans on Unexpected Journeys — or Start a Nerd War
