Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from David Loeb – Robert W. Baird.
David Loeb – Robert W. Baird
Greg, particularly in theaters, it sounded from the press release like 3D is becoming a much more important driver of revenues, the number of more impactful films were 3D. Can you talk a little bit about how important 3D, food and beverage, other new amenities are and how you might see the expansion opportunities for those amenities into other locations and what kind of capital might be required for that?
Gregory Marcus
Let me start with 3D. It is becoming more important. It's still just one screen in every one of our complexes, but it's an important screen and tend to be ten full films in how we're investing the money in the 3D process. And they put it in the films that they think will have the best draw.
The reason it's becoming more important as well, they're running about an average of one a month, so we are actually now at the point where we can devote a screen, at least one screen, in some cases two screens in each complex to 3D. And what that involves is putting an additional projector, putting up a silver screen, and then a special 3D component for the electronics.
The capital that it requires, we don't disclose the specific cost of the capital, and it changes because the deals with Hollywood are changing and aren't fully settled. Basically what we do is, we look and say okay, how we think it's going to perform. We run it through our investment committee process and if we see the right return on capital, whatever capital it might take, and as I said, the situations really differ each time, especially given the tightness of the financing markets for digital equipment.
But if it meets our hurdles, then we make the investment, and we continue to see it growing in importance. I don't have a crystal ball to tell you how long it will last and how different films have performed differently.
David Loeb – Robert W. Baird
How many complexes have 3D today?
Gregory Marcus
We have 27 at the moment. We've indicated that it's likely we will be adding some additional ones in time for some additional pictures that are coming out in the near term. But at the moment we have 27 screens, 27 theaters that have them. So it's over half of our theaters.
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