Captain America Smashes Harry Potter at the Weekend Box Office!

Arriving approximately on 7,100 screens at 3,715 locations, including 3D and 2D screens, the fourth and final superhero film of summer earned $65.8 million. This was over $10 million over what both “X-Men: First Class" and “Green Lantern” collected upon their debuts in June and slightly above what Thor had earned in its opening weekend in May.

Captain America's estimated attendance on the first day was comparable to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but was less than Fantastic Four and X-Men among past July Marvel Comics kick-offs, according to Box office Mojo.

Distributor Paramount Pictures' exit polling showed that 64 percent of the Captain's crowd was male, which was about the same as Thor, and 57 percent was 25 years of age and older.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, had earned a $48.1 million domestically in the second weekend by falling 72 percent off 4,375 screens. The eighth and final part of the boy-wizard franchise in its first weekend made $169.2 million, the largest debut on record, and smashing international, worldwide and IMAX records as well.

In the meantime, Friends with Benefits got an estimated $18.5 million start on around 3,500 screens at 2,926 locations, which was less than the $19.7 million made by another "Friends with Benefits" sex comedy "No Strings Attached" back in January, Box Office Mojo reported.

Source:ibtimes.com

But there's one category of 3D gear for the home that doesn't require a bank loan: 3D video cameras. I'm not talking about James Cameron's Pace camera rigs here; these are ordinary consumer-grade camcorders that are affordable and as easy to use as run-of-the-mill video cameras. They are a surprisingly accessible first step into 3D video. You can see the video in 3D and without glasses on the cameras' own displays. It's no accident that some of these cameras' manufacturers are also selling 3D TVs they are banking on user generated content partially filling the void until Hollywood produces more 3D Blu-rays.

And that strategy may work: There are already subcultures of 3D enthusiasts shooting everything from homemade 3D nature clips to 3D music videos and distributing them online. As for the cameras themselves, there are several coming to market at prices from a few hundred bucks to just under two thousand. The rough patches have more to do with the half-evolved infrastructure of at-home 3D equipment and software than with the cameras themselves. the cameras. Pricewise, 3D cameras fall into two categories: For $1000 to $1700, you can get a full-feature 3D HD camcorder with optical zoom, high-end sensors and processors that can record at high bit rates which translate directly to higher video quality. Below $1000, there are several easy-to-use 3D video cameras, but what you get varies from device to device.

The most straightforward of the cheaper bunch is the Sony 3D Bloggie, a camera that resembles the once popular but now defunct Flip video camera, but with two stereoscopic lenses. Primarily a 3D video camera, it can shoot 3D stills as well. Reversing those priorities is the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3, a 3D still camera that can also shoot 3D video. Perhaps the weirdest device in the group is the HTC Evo 3D, a full-feature smartphone with integrated 3D camera that takes both still photos and video. If the $1000-and-above 3D camcorders are analogous to SLR still cameras, then these more affordable cameras are comparable to pocket point-and-shooters.


Source: itsanews.com