What Your Ticket Choice For 'The Hobbit' Says About You

The Hobbit is less than a week away for us in North America, and having bought my tickets for opening weekend a month ago, I’ve been patiently waiting to redeem them for my chosen screening. In my case, I picked up a trio of HFR (high frame rate) 3D tickets in the UltraAVX format (the not-quite-IMAX experience peddled by the Cineplex chain in Canada).

Buying the tickets got me thinking, though: given all the choices moviegoers have for seeing this epic event of a film, what can we learn about people from the types of tickets they buy for The Hobbit? After all, you can see the movie in IMAX, IMAX 3D, HFR 3D, regular 3D, and plain old 2D in 24 fps. Surely there must be some hint of their personality buried in their screening of choice! So I present to you my completely scientific results: what does your ticket choice for The Hobbit say about you?

IMAX:

Seeing The Hobbit in this format means you’re looking for a compromise. You want an epic experience, but you hate 3D. You also take your time to declare your loyalty for new brands. You recognize the term “IMAX”, but HFR sounds frightening and expensive. It’s clear that you never took the time to learn about all the effort Peter Jackson put into making the 3D “work” in the movie. But you have a dark secret: When you bought your tickets, you picked the first type the automated system suggested, because you're only interested in the Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel trailers. In short, to a dedicated fan, you are truly lost.

IMAX 3D:

Deep down, you are a pragmatist. You're also a subtle variation of the moviegoer listed above. You’re still afraid of this newfangled HFR nonsense, but you’re willing to find out if Peter Jackson can make 3D fun again. You will earn the grudging respect of die-hard Hobbit fans for having at least two-thirds of the complete experience. Be warned: It’s likely that you’ll end up seeing the movie again in HFR, once you hear all your friends either ranting or raving about it.

Regular 3D:

You are careful with your money. Your budget is a bit tight in the run-up to the holiday season, and you decided to skip the IMAX part. You’re still seeing it in 3D, though, because you also have a secondary mission. You chose this ticket because in your mind, this is the last chance for 3D. You’re oh so close to swearing off the format forever, but you’re curious if Jackson can restore your faith. If he fails, you’re snapping up a pair of the new “3D to 2D” glasses right after the screening.

IMAX HFR 3D:

You frequently succumb to temptation. And when it comes to The Hobbit, you’re going all out. You’ve been following the production of the movie since the beginning, tweeted about all the trailers, and you bought your tickets the second they went on sale. You worship Peter Jackson's movies, and believe it’s your duty to see them in the format the director intended. You may or may not be in costume at the screening. And right after the show, you will start feverishly tweeting and blogging about whether HFR is a worthy improvement for movies. (Hail, comrade!)

Traditional 2D:

You stick to your principles. You are a film purist, and an anti-3D activist. You searched high and low for a venue showing a simple 2D screening of The Hobbit. All you want is to watch a movie, not attend an event. Unbothered by extra dimensions or boosted frame rates, you will sit back and examine how closely the movie follows the book. You are misunderstood (and perhaps envied) by the hyperbolic fans in line at the multiplex, who wish they had your willpower. You are one of a select few resisting the gimmicks of movie companies. And for that, I salute you...while I fight with other fans for the 3D glasses.

Which one of these ticket-buyers are you? Are you overwhelmed by the ever-expanding format options at the box office? Or is more choice at the movies always a good thing? Join the discussion in the comments section, and if you liked this post, share it with your friends and followers! You can also browse through some of my related articles about the movie industry here:

Why Hollywood Needs a Spending Cap for Movie Budgets

The Pros and Cons of Making The Hobbit into a Trilogy