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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Movies in 3-D are becoming such big mon- eymakers that Holly- wood studios are cram- ming them into the nation's theaters, even though there aren't enough screens available to give each film its fullest possible run. That will mean an unprecedented number of 3-D movies for film fans to choose from this spring, and smaller prof- its for Hollywood stu- dios than they might oth- erwise get with fewer 3- D competitors. The pileup was creat- ed in part because stu- dios want to capture some of the excitement surrounding ''Avatar,'' the James Cameron epic released in December. At $2.4 billion in global ticket sales, it is the highest-grossing film ever. In addition to the novelty or richer experi- ence that might drive more people to see a 3-D movie, tickets to 3-D movies also cost a few dollars more. Around the time ''Avatar'' came out, Warner Bros. decided to convert a remake of ''Clash of the Titans'' from 2-D to 3-D and push its release back a week, to April 2. That will be the third 3-D movie to hit the mar- ket in a short span. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.'s ''How to Train Your Dragon'' comes out a week earlier, and The Walt Disney Co.'s ''Alice in Wonder- land'' hits theaters March 5. And ''Avatar'' might still be playing in some places too. But a limited number of theaters can show these movies in 3-D, because not all theater owners have bought new digital projectors and undertaken other upgrades necessary to show movies in the for- mat. About 3,900 to 4,000 3-D-ready screens are expected to be avail- able in the U.S. and Canada by the end of March. Typically a movie in wide release might be shown on 3,000 to 10,000 screens in North America. In the past, a smaller number of 3-D-capable screens was adequate when one major film at a time was being released in 3-D in addition to 2-D. Each movie had a longer run, and moviegoers who wanted to see it in 3-D could pick a convenient time to go. With three out at once, each will get less expo- sure because some the- aters with only one or two 3-D screens will have to choose which movies to show in 3-D. ''One or all three are going to suffer in some way,'' said Patrick Cor- coran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theatre Owners. ''It makes it a much harder decision on exhibitors on what to keep or what to drop or what to add and probably should have been avoided.'' Because of the lack of sufficient 3-D theaters, all three studios will also release 2-D versions of their films, as they have in the past. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said that even with the competition, his stu- dio will still meet its rev- enue targets for the 3-D version of ''Clash of the Titans.'' If not for the 3- D logjam, it might get even more. ''Maybe everyone won't have exactly the amount of screens they had wished for,'' Fell- man said in an interview. ''But it'll certainly be enough to cover all of the major markets.'' Hollywood can also take solace in the fact that this spring's 3-D screen count in North America is on pace to be twice what it was a year ago. That means that ''Clash of the Titans'' will have 50 percent more 3-D screens avail- able to it than the 800 used for ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' two years ago. ''If you have a theater every six miles as opposed to every three miles, if you want to see it in 3-D, you'll drive a couple of miles,'' Fell- man said. DreamWorks declined to comment on the situa- tion. However, its 3-D ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' took in $198 million in North American theaters last year on half as many 3-D screens as ''How to Train Your Dragon'' will have this spring. Even if the 3-D screen count for ''Dragon'' drops 50 per- cent on its second week- end, it'll be back to where ''Monsters'' began, with about 2,000 3-D screens. Earlier 3-D films did- n't have as many other 3- D movies to compete against. ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' had a free run of 3-D screens for several months after its summer 2008 release. As more 3-D movies came out in the follow- ing year, one movie would largely wind down when another came out. For example, when ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' came out last March, the number of screens devot- ed to ''Coraline,'' a 3-D movie released the previ- ous month, dropped 75 percent. This year, studios have to hope that movie fans are willing to spend extra to see more than one 3-D movie in a short period. Chuck Viane, Dis- ney's president of distri- bution, said that despite a ''temporary shortfall of 3-D screens,'' moviego- ers are still primed for the experience. There are 19 3-D movies scheduled for release this year, includ- ing Disney's ''Toy Story 3'' and DreamWorks' ''Shrek Forever After'' and ''Megamind.'' The next time such a scheduling crunch will occur is Dec. 17, when both ''Tron Legacy'' and ''Yogi Bear'' will appear in 3-D. The number of 3- D screens in North America should reach around 5,000 by then, alleviating some of the problem. Amy Miles, the chief executive of theater chain Regal Entertain- ment Group, told investors last week that many of the company's large multiplexes have two or three 3-D screens, meaning competing 3-D films will just have to play side by side. After starting the year with 427 3-D screens, the chain will have about 527 by the end of March and more than 1,000 by the end of the year, as a large round of financing is expected to come through. Converting each theater screen costs about $70,000. ''Now that this has really become something that the public has responded to, everybody is moving in,'' said Fell- man at Warner Bros. ''By next year, this won't be a conversation.'' Tuesday, February 23, 2010 – Daily News – 5A Linda M. 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