JAMAICANS are spending more money at the movie theatres.

Palace Amusement, which runs the four major theatres across the island, reported last week that revenues increased by seven per cent to $725.5 million over the year ending June 30, 2011. The cinema group posted a marginal increase in net profit to $10 million, compared to $9.4 million the year prior.

Total box office receipts increased by seven per cent to $432 million, with each of the group’s theatres — the Carib Cinema at Cross Roads in Kingston, Palace Cineplex located in the Sovereign Centre in St Andrew, Palace Multiplex in Montego Bay and Odeon Cineplex in Mandeville — reporting increased earnings from ticket sales. The biggest jump was at Palace Multiplex, which saw a 15 per cent increase in box office sales to $100.3 million. Receipts increased by five per cent to $223 million at Carib; by three per cent to $77.8 million at Palace Cineplex and by nine per cent to $30.2 million at Odeon.

Palace Multiplex also saw the biggest increase in confectionary sales, which jumped by 11 per cent to $38.1 million at the Montego Bay-based theatre. Confectionary sales at Carib increased marginally to $97.8 million while Palace Cineplex and Odeon both suffered marginal declines in the vending of snacks to $34.5 million and $12.5 million respectively.

The results come against the background of a Digital 3-D build-out project being conducted by the company and earmarked as a saviour in an industry ravaged by pirates.

Palace plans to spend some US$2 million ($167 million) to have Digital 3D at all its cinemas by 2012, with the company stating that 3-D films offer the best defence against piracy due to the difficulty of replicating the experience.

“The group is still on track with the phased implementation of Digital 3D screens at all cinemas by 2012. Retooling remains at some US$150,000 per screen,” said the firm in its 2010 annual report.

“Digital films worldwide are bringing audiences back to the cinema. All major companies are now producing digital as well as analog films, simultaneously as they prepare for the inevitable retiring of analog to the annals of history,” added Palace.

Palace has three Digital 3-D screens at Carib; two at Palace Cineplex and two at Palace Multiplex. Over the financial year ending June 30, 2011, the company allocated $76.7 million towards capital expenditure compared to $23 million the year prior.

The move by Palace is in line with a worldwide movie industry that is moving towards 3-D. Disney, for example, has announced that it is rereleasing some of its best sellers, including Finding Nemo, in the new format.

There were just over 100 3-D screens across theatres in North America in 2005 compared to more that 2,000 3-D equipped screens in 2009, reported the Wall Street Journal. There are a total of 43,000 movie screens in North America.

However, local industry experts Paul Shoucair, while optimistic that the move to 3-D will provide cinemas with a boost in the short run, said that the industry will have to do more to fend off the black market in the long run. Shoucair is himself a victim of the rampant piracy in the movie and music industry. Just last year he was forced to shut down his Mobile Music store that sold CDs and DVDs.

“It’s going to be a cat and mouse game between technology that is slightly ahead in the cinemas and technology that’s slightly behind in the household,” noted Shoucair in an interview with this newspaper earlier this year.

“3D in three year’s time will be in people’s house and you’re going to come back to the same problem.

He added: “What it will come down to is the only thing that is going to save the movie industry is going to be how well they are able to enforce the copyright online. We are going to end up with everybody watching streaming and if you can’t control that streaming, you’re dead.”