Hundreds of sold-out 3-D cinemas across the world will be showing 15 minutes of teaser footage of the new film, the full version of which will be released in December. To mark the event Telegraph.co.uk has summarised the history of 3-D cinema from its conception in the 19th century to "Avatar Day" in the 21st.
1894 William Friese-Greene, the British film pioneer, files a patent for a 3-D movie process using two films projected side by side on screen while the viewer looks through a stereoscope to converge the two images.
1922 The Power of Love, using a system developed by cinematographer Robert Elder, becomes the first 3-D movie shown to a commercial audience when it is screened in Los Angeles.
1936 MGM's Audioscopics, developed by Joseph Leventhal and John Norling, wins the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Novelty).
1952 sees the beginning of the three-year period referred to as the "golden era" of 3-D cinema. Bwana Devil, the first colour stereoscopic feature, produced, written and directed by Arch Oboler, is released.
1953 Two groundbreaking features are released in 3-D: Columbia's Man in the Dark and Warner Bros. House of Wax, the first 3-D feature with stereophonic sound. Other releases include Dial M for Murder and It Came from Outer Space.
The success of these films proves that major studios now have a method of getting moviegoers back into theatres and away from television sets, which are causing a steady decline in attendance.
1961 Although 3-D films largely remain dormant for the first part of the 1960s The Mask, is a success. The film, which is shot in 2-D, uses 3-D to enhance the scenes in which the main character puts on a cursed tribal mask.
1970 Stereovision is founded. The company releases The Stewardesses, a soft-core sex comedy, which costs $100,000 to produce, but earns $27 million in North America alone in fewer than 800 theatres, becoming the most profitable 3-Dimensional film to date.
1986 IMAX begins offering non-fiction films in 3-D, starting with the 20-minute National Film Board of Canada production Transitions. Other releases include Jaws 3-D, Amityville 3-D, Friday the 13th Part III 3-D, as well as The Man Who Wasn't There and Starchaser: The Legend of Orin.
2003 Sabucat Productions organises the first World 3-D Exposition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original craze. James Cameron's Ghosts of the Abyss, a 3-D tour of the Titanic wreckage, is released.
It is the first full-length 3-D IMAX feature filmed with the Reality Camera System, which uses the latest HDTV video cameras, rather than film. The same camera system is used to film Spy Kids 3D: Game Over in the same year, Aliens of the Deep in 2005.
2004 The Polar Express is released as IMAX's first full length animated 3-D feature. The 3-D version earns about 14 times as much per screen as the 2D version – prompting renewed interest in 3-D among film studios.
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