The last movie I can remember seeing in 3D was Freddy’s dead.  I tried to bury myself in my seat as the sharp gloves slid across the floor, the pointed ends coming to rest inches from my eyes.

But that was 1991, and the world didn’t reall care about 3D. In the next few years, you will see a dramatic shift in how hollywood embraces digital 3d technology.

Check out this article from the New York Times and my thoughts on the future of cinema after the jump.

Eager to get American cinema complexes ready for a surge in 3-D movies next year, four major Hollywood studios announced on Tuesday a deal to subsidize the conversion of 10,000 theaters to digital projection systems.

The motion picture industry is racing to roll out digital projectors, not just because they avoid the costly printing and shipping of reels of film, but also because they’re needed to show the current generation of 3-D films, which have often been bonanzas at the box office. One, “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” generated $31 million its opening weekend on only 683 screens, about one-fifth as many as the typical wide release.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Universal all agreed to pay “virtual print fees” for each movie they distribute digitally to the participating theaters. Theater owners will use the fees to buy the projectors, servers and other equipment needed — about $75,000 for each auditorium.

Also on Tuesday, Paramount executives confirmed that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” would be released digitally, though its director, Steven Spielberg, has long insisted that his movies be released exclusively on film. Every movie that earned more than $100 million last year was released both digitally and on film.

Access Integrated Technologies concluded a first round of 3,740 theater conversions last year. It now must go out and sell its systems to other cinema owners. It has three years to accomplish those installations; the studios will pay the virtual print fees for up to 10 years.

The size of these virtual print fees was not disclosed, but one person involved said it would be around $800 per movie, per theater — down from about $1,000 in the first phase.

Chuck Viane, president of distribution at Disney, said the studios were insistent that theater owners cover more of the cost of converting, including maintenance. “We’ve always felt that exhibition had to have some skin in the game,” he said.

The announcement came as, in a separate deal, the nation’s three largest theater chains — Regal, Cinemark and AMC — were negotiating for what Variety reported would be a $1.1 billion line of credit to finance the conversion of their theaters to digital cinema. The three, bargaining as Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, own about 14,000 of the nation’s 37,000 screens.

Not only does this open the door for 3D, but I believe it opens the door for “on demand” type theaters, with reduced prices and digital screenings of movies long past new release, say a Saturday viewing of Casablanca. This could still be profitable for theaters, because they would no longer have the charge per reel fee, they wouldn’t have the immediate 80% royalties to pay to studios, they could focus on concession sales and good old fashioned customer service.

When I grow old and want to retire, I want to own and operate a theater. Personally, I would run all it digital, with a focus on older flicks during the matinée hours, themed nights during the week and do new flicks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. and I woudln’t charge a dime to see it unless you wanted a premium seat (upgraded seating in prime locations, center row middle of the theater). I could focus on providing that theater experience, focus on providing quality concessions and bring back that theater feel that I remember as a kid.

Thanks to slashfilm for this schedule of upcoming movies hitting theaters in 3D :

2008:

January 25th 2008: U2 3D: Performances from seven different shows of U2’s Latin America Vertigo Tour in early 2006. Previews of this film have tested incredibly well.

February 15th 2008: Fly Me to the Moon: A computer animated tale of three young houseflies stow away aboard the Apollo 11 flight to the moon. Tim Curry, Nicollette Sheridan, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Patrick and Kelly Ripa voice characters.

July 11th 2008: Journey 3-D: Visual effects supervisor turned director Eric Brevig’s take on the classic Jules Verne novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson star.

October 2008: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Disney has said they plan to rerelease the film around Halloween as long as it remains profitable.

Final Destination 4: Final Destination 2 director David R. Ellis returns to the franchise. Interestingly enough, Final Destination 3 was in development under the working title Final Destination 3-D, but the produces ultimately chose not to produce the movie in 3D due to costs and complications. This film might be pushed to 2009.

2009:

March 27th 2009: Monsters vs. Aliens: A reinvention of the classic ‘50s monster movie. Directed by Rob Letterman (Shark Tale).

May 22nd 2009: James Cameron’s Avatar: A band of humans are pitted in a battle against a distant planet’s indigenous population. Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi star. $190 million budget.

October 2009: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Disney has said they plan to rerelease the film around Halloween as long as it remains profitable.

November 6th 2009: A Christmas Carol: Has not been publicly confirmed as a 3D release, but the film will use the same performance capture technique Robert Zemeckis also used in Polar Express and Beowuld. The classic retelling will star Jim Carrey as Scrooge and the three ghosts. Tom Hanks, Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Hoskins are also rumored to be on board the project.

November 20th 2009: How to Train Your Dragon: Based on the 2003 children’s novel by British author Cressida Cowell, about the adventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III - The teenage son of a Viking chieftain, who must capture a dragon for a rite of passage.

Crood Awakening: A comedy set in the stone age directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch)

TinTin: Directed by Peter Jackson or Steven Spielberg. The adventures of popular Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy.

Tim Burton’s Alive in Wonderland: Screenplay by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King) based on the Lewis Carroll classic. Film will be combine performance-capture technology with live-action footage.

Deep Sea-quel: As the name suggests, a sequel to the popular 2006 3D documentary Deep Sea 3D. An underwater look at the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas and the impact of global warming on the oceans. IMAX.

2010:

May 21st 2010: Shrek Goes Fourth: The further adventures of the giant green ogre, Shrek, living in the land of Far, Far Away. We will discover how Shrek arrived in that swamp. Not to be confused with Shrek 4-D which is a theme park attraction.

October 2010: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Disney has said they plan to rerelease the film around Halloween as long as it remains profitable.

Fall 2010: Master Mind: A satirical take on superhero movies, in which a notorious villain loses his oomph after he accidentally kills his nemesis.

Untitled Tintin Sequel: Directed by Peter Jackson or Steven Spielberg. The continued adventures of popular Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy.

Puss in Boots: A Shrek spinoff starring sword fighting cat voiced by Antonio Banderas. They haven’t officially announced this as a 3D title, but Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that all animated films released by Dreamworks after 2009 will be released in 3D.

2011:

TinTin 3: Directed by ????. Spielberg has said that he may direct this in collaboration with Peter Jackson, or that they might hire someone completely new. The continued adventures of popular Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy.

In Development:

Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie: A feature length remake of his 1984 short film. A parody of the 1931 Frankenstein film. When young Victor’s pet dog Sparky is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked “monster” wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor’s neighbors, he has to convince them and his parents, that despite his appearance, Sparky’s still the good loyal friend he’s always been. Burton will shoot the film using stop-motion animation.

Battle Angel: James Cameron’s adaptation of the graphic novel about a female cyborg who is rescued from the scrapheap by a scientist, who becomes her surrogate father.

Star Wars: George Lucas has announced plans to remaster all of the Star Wars films in 3D. When this might actually happen is anyones guess.

All dates subject to change.What do you think about the onslaught of 3D movies? Do you agree that digital is the way to go?