This article may be of interest to cinephiles with a particular interest in technology. The Hobbit will open nationwide December 14 (coincidentally my mother’s birthday, and I’m pretty sure she won’t want to spend it at this movie), and 450 theaters have announced that they will show the film at 48 frames per second, which is a first-ever upgrade from the usual 24 frames per second.
Right now the list includes two theaters in Charlotte, one in Asheville, one in Wilmington, and one in Winston-Salem. That’s right: one in Winston-Salem.
Event movies like this one often open on around 4,000 screens.