3D movies in general tend to be all about effects, although it helps to have a good story line as Avatar did. And effects-laden blockbuster movies have a force all their own, exclusive of the actors that populate them.

Take the Transformers franchise. Both movies did enormous box office with relatively unknown lead actors. They were noisy, full of action, and were ridden with corny dialogue, continuity lapses, bad acting, and plenty of helicopters (Michael Bay’s signature props!) and explosions.

No matter. Both films raked it in at the ticket window. Imagine how much better both could have done, had they been mastered in 3D? Tickets for 3D screenings command about a 25% premium at my local theaters – and customers willingly fork it over.

Need more proof? According to Box Office Mojo, How To Train Your Dragon has earned $97M to date (against a reported $165M production budget), while Alice In Wonderland has made an astounding $310M so far – putting it behind Avatar as the #2 grossing 3D movie of all time. (Dragon currently ranks #15). Both movies are doing a good part of their business in 3D.

Does this mean we’ll see a premium for 3D Blu-ray releases, just as BD commanded a premium over conventional DVDs? If so, will customers pay that premium? And just how important will A-list actors be to future 3D movie releases?