Variety is reporting that John Fithian, NATO prexy, warned in his keynote address to the Digital Cinema Summit at NAB in Las Vegas on Sunday that

“the cinema industry is headed for “a potential train wreck” over 3-D if studios and theater owners do not settle their dispute over digital cinema fees in short order.”

10 major studios are expected to release films in 2009 in 3-D, and according to Fithian we have less than 1,000 screens in the U.S. and far fewer around the world with the capability of showing them.

Yet negotiations between the studios and theater owners are at something of an impasse, said Fithian, as studios try to reduce the Virtual Print Fee that helps defray exhibitors’ costs to install digital cinema systems.

“Unless the deals are done in the next month or two, we won’t have time to do the installations in time,” said Fithian, adding that manufacturing, integration and testing take time.”

Dreamworks’ “Monsters v. Aliens”, and Fox James Cameron’s “Avatar” are two of the films being released next year that could be held up if the dispute is not settled.