Superman may be bulletproof, submarines may be waterproof, but Hollywood is recession proof.
While America is counting pennies and the economy is staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, movie sales are up 17.5 percent from last year, to $1.7 billion, according to Media By Numbers, a company that records box office receipts.
This may be due in part to the advent of 3D movies storming theaters in the past year. Last summer's remake of "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Dreamworks', "Monsters and Aliens" film and the spooky Tim Burton movie "Coraline" all made their 3D mark on the big screen.
The 3D movie market has come a long way since their blue and red tinged inception in the 1950s, when movie executives thought it nothing more than a showy gimmick.
The latest 3D Disney offering, "Up," made history as the first animated feature to open the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks, has described the new generation of 3D as the third great revolution in the history of film, after sound in the 1920s and color in the 1930s.
Some of the biggest names in film are getting on the 3D bandwagon. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series and the "Beverly Hills Cop" trilogy, is producing "G-Force" a pet-shop, spy comedy featuring the voice of Penelope Cruz in 3D.
James Cameron, director of "Titanic," has been laboring for years over the action and animation sci-fi adventure "Avatar."
Famed sci-fi and adventure movie directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are not to be left out. The two are directing and producing a 3D version of the Belgian comic "Tintin."
While 3D movies become more common, the technology is still expensive. Gator Cinemas, located on Newberry Road in Gainesville, has four theaters but only one digital projector.
According to manager Mike O'Brien, digital projectors cost four times as much.
He said the resolution is low for digital projectors in comparison, so it's unrealistic to expect that theaters will make a complete switch until the issue is resolved.
"It's OK for our theater because it's smaller, but a larger room will not have good resolution with a digital projector," he said.
Despite the limited technology, he views 3D movies as good for business.
"Movies offer friendly entertainment for the whole family, and regardless of people's financial situations they still want to escape and be entertained," he said. "We've seen an increase in sales since they started making 3D movies."
Movie theater profits from ticket sales are slim. At Gator Cinemas, they receive 10 percent of a movie's gross in the first week, 20 percent in the second week and so on.
Concession stand profits are the main income, which explains the empty wallet feeling after buying soft drinks, popcorn and candy. At a typical movie theater a night out for two can cost anywhere from $20 to $40.
Emily Lake, a Santa Fe College student and frequent moviegoer, doesn't think that 3-D movies are worth the extra $3.50 they add to a ticket price.
"I saw 'Up' in both formats, and I wasn't really impressed with the difference," she said. "You get used to the 3D images and then forget about them while you're watching the movie."
Regardless of audiences reactions to the crop of 3D movie choices on the market, the format is here to stay. Will 3D movies revolutionize the movie industry? Will they increase the movie industry's profits to unimaginable heights? Like Superman saving civilization from an onslaught of nuclear missiles, Hollywood hardly needs the help.
