As you probably know, the majority of AVATAR’s prodigious profitability has come from 3D screens. If three dimensions can generate that much income, imagine how lucrative adding another dimension could be!
“4D” showings of AVATAR are now taking place in Korea, and while they may not employ any abstract mathmatical concepts, they do feature the 3D version along with moving seats, sprinkling water, wind, laser lights and “smells of explosives”.
The 4D “ride” costs more than twice that of a regular 3D showing, and there are currently only a handful of facilities in Seoul providing the “five-sense experience”, at Korea’s leading multiplex chain CJ-CGV.
But would it catch on in the rest of the world? Especially if the novelty of 3D becomes the standard, and studios and theater owners have to come up with yet more ways to entice audiences? Or would it just be the next Sensurround, Percepto!, Megasound or Smell-O-Vision?