Justin Bieber's Never Say Never 3D: Where the Really Big Profits Will Come
MTV Films is releasing the first Justin Bieber movie today, Never Say Never 3D. The 3D experience will probably do all right in the theaters, as most 3D movies do nowadays, but it will really make its mark in the home aftermarket. In fact, the demanding and tech-savvy teen audience may make the movie a tipping point for 3D devices.
2D will not be good enough for Bieber
The Justin Bieber enterprise is a beast: According to The Smoking Gun, the 16-year-old gets $300,000 minimum per show. The teen audience may shell out the $15 (or more) to see a 3D version of Bieber in the theaters -- perhaps the closest it will ever get to seeing him in person -- but chances are high that it won't purchase the home version if it is in lame 2D.
The likely scenario is an Avatar-style package: Never Say Never 3D being included exclusively with a particular device at launch. The important "Teens, Cell Phones and Texting" study from the Pew Institute found that three out of four 12-to-17 year olds have a cell phone -- and MTV Films knows that the Never Say Never 3D audience will be more likely to watch Bieber on its phones than its TVs.
Great opportunity for mobile, especially Nintendo 3DS
The 3D Bieber explosion seems even more likely considering that mobile 3D and teen sensibilities are overlapping right now.
For instance, the Nintendo (NTYDO) 3DS is set to launch next month with several features:
- Downloadable movies
- Social media access
- Nintendo youth-targeted games
Several other companies are eyeing the market, too, including Nokia, which will probably bring its previously announced 3D aspirations to its new Microsoft (MSFT) partnership, and LG, which just announced its new Optimus 3D phone and tablet line. All of them could use a piece of Bieber's master branding to capture the young market.
Photo courtesy of jake.auzzie // CC 2.0
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