Iron Man 3 is going to be the first film screened in “4D” in Japan. The 4DX format includes tilting seats, strobe lights, bubbles, blowing wind, fog, and — yes — also odors. Mmmm, smell the unbridled capitalism.
Iron Man 3 in 4D will be at a Kronoa World theater in Nagoya starting April 26th, while we have to wait till May 3rd for plain old 2D here. The ticket price will be an additional $10 to $13 tacked onto the regular ticket price ($12.50 average in Japan). So if you’ve ever wanted to pay $25.50 to smell Iron Man, there ya go. Dreams do come true.
The technology comes from CJ Group in Seoul, who already have 4DX in some theaters in China, South Korea, Thailand, Russia, Mexico, Israel, and some countries in South America. They plan to bring their systems to some theaters in the U.S. later this year.
But lest it appear that America is late to the party, remember that there were versions of aroma-enhanced movies in the U.S. going back to the early 20th century; during screenings of The Broadway Melody in 1929 a New York theater sprayed perfume from the ceiling and audience members got scratch-and-sniff cards during screenings of John Waters’ 1981 film Polyester. Plus director William Castle had more movie gimmicks than audiences knew what to do with (seat belts, anyone?). But you’ll notice, few-to-none of these shticks still exist in American multiplexes, so only time will tell how well 4DX fares on these shores. [WIRED]
To me, this just seems like another gimmick that guys in suits can claim as proof they’re combating piracy, as if people who pirate movies are just doing it because the theater doesn’t have enough unexpected odors. In conclusion, *fart noise*