Theater chain buys 60 Christie 4K-Ready Projectors

posted by Michael Zoldessy on March 17, 2010 at 7:34 am

CYPRESS, CA — Christie, a global leader in digital cinema, announced that Studio Movie Grill (SMG) has selected its 4K-ready Solaria™ Series digital cinema projectors for 60 screens in multiplexes across Texas, Missouri and Georgia. SMG audiences watch the latest first-run movies while enjoying restaurant-style table service with upscale foods that include gourmet pizza, BBQ ribs and fresh salads. SMG pioneered the in-theater dining concept and is considered the number one theater of its kind in Texas for close to 10 years. The chain will install the Christie CP2220 and Christie CP2230 projectors, which are based on Texas Instruments' (TI) (NYSE: TXN) Series 2 DLP Cinema technology and are fully upgradeable to 4K.

SMG is recognized for continuously raising the bar on the quality of entertainment outside the home. It strives to provide audiences with a total immersion of their senses that includes great tasting food, exceptional service, and a spectacular movie-viewing experience.

“The contrast and brightness of Christie digital cinema projectors are unparalleled. We foresee a much lower cost of operation while providing a new level of excitement for our audiences, especially with all the great new 3D movies coming down the pipeline this year,” remarked founder and President, Brian Schultz of Studio Movie Grill.

In addition to retrofitting all existing theaters across Texas, SMG will also install Christie projectors in two new theater complexes — Zona Rosa in Kansas City, Missouri, and Holcomb Bridge in Atlanta, Georgia — which will be completed this spring. All theaters will have the latest 4K-ready Christie CP2220 and Christie CP2230 projectors featuring Academy Award winning DLP cinema technology.

“SMG is making the investment to go all-digital to ensure that customers enjoy an enhanced cinema experience. With 35% of our screens currently featuring 3D, we look forward to displaying the most vivid images, and benefiting from the more efficient optics and lower lamp wattages of Christie projectors,” said Schultz. “SMG is proud to partner with a company of the caliber of Christie, with whom we have always had a great working relationship. They also share our vision for the next generation in movie going, and their superior quality products represent not only the future of cinema but an unrivalled viewing experience for our customers.”

Craig Sholder, Vice President of Entertainment Solutions for Christie, noted, “SMG has truly thought of everything. They have transformed their cinemas into the ultimate destination for out-of-home entertainment — it doesn’t get much better than full service treatment, dinner and a spectacular feature presentation.”

Sholder added: “It’s a pleasure to bring cutting-edge entertainment to SMG with our brilliant 4K-ready Solaria Series projectors. They’re the full package with superior optics, low cost of ownership, reliability and upgradeability — features that innovative customers like SMG will benefit from for years to come.”

About Studio Movie Grill
Studio Movie Grill is the pioneer and leader in the move grill concept, which combines first-run movies with restaurant food service. Studio Movie Grill currently has seven locations in Texas — five in Dallas Fort Worth and two in Houston. The concept will be expanding to Kansas City, MO and Atlanta, GA in 2010. Founded by Brian Schultz and Martin Massman, Studio Movie Grill has spent more than a decade refining its concept, and is now aggressively sought by developers as the perfect ‘entertainment anchor’ in new and existing retail developments.

About Christie
Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world’s most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images. Visit www.christiedigital.com

Christie is a registered trademark of Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc.
Christie Solaria is a trademark of Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc.
DLP Cinema is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments.