'Green Lantern,' 'Harry Potter' 2D Ticket Sales Outpace 3D on Fandango (Analyst)

NEW YORK - 2D movie ticket sales on Fandango for Warner Bros. weekend release Green Lantern and the final installment of Harry Potter are outpacing 3D ticket sales in a possible latest sign of 3D fatigue, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said Friday.

He cited the live "top sellers" data on the Pulse section of Fandango’s iPad app, saying that the sales trends for the superhero movie come despite what he called a "massive 3D promotional push" for Green Lantern on Fandango, YouTube and elsewhere.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2 ticket sales went on sale earlier this week, and 2D tickets are in the top 5 on the "top sellers" list, while 3D tickets are not, the analyst highlighted.

"We continue to believe U.S. consumers are frustrated with the amount of 3D movies Hollywood is producing, especially when combined with excessive ticket prices," Greenfield said.

"In addition, we suspect the darkness of 3D is starting to impact movie satisfaction (this was a key problem with Pirates 3D, with both Green Lantern and Potter starting off with darker imagery and then layering on 3D glasses that darken the images further)," Greenfield added, pointing out the disappointing performance of a range of recent 3D releases.

While the higher ticket prices of 3D could allow the 3D box office take to exceed 2D box office, "ticket sales are clearly skewing 2D," he concluded.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai