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Technology
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November 25, 2008
Disney resigns with IMAX
The Walt Disney Disney Co., which hasn’t released a theatrical film in IMAX for over five years, has signed a five-picture deal with the large format film company. IMAX will distribute the films starting in November 2009 with Robert Zemeckis' “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey. Zemeckis' two previous films, “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf,” were released in IMAX.
Disney says it had not given up on IMAX but that it was busy launching its own Disney Digital 3D, which is a rebranding of the Real 3D system.
With the world economic crisis slowing down the expansion of digital and 3D screens, teaming up with IMAX, which has its own digital and 3D systems, makes sense.
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November 20, 2008
Disney Cruise Line is going Digital 3D
Disney Cruise Lines is preparing to upgrade their onboard theaters to digital 3D projection. It is kicking off the project with a screening of its animated movie “Bolt” Nov. 20 on the Disney Wonder out of Port Canaveral.
By early 2009, Disney also plans to supplement the 3D movies with theatrical effects such as lasers, fog, streamers and stage lighting.
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November 7, 2008
Dickinson Theatres inks deal to go digital
Dickinson Theatres of Overland Park, KS recently inked a deal to begin transitioning all of it’s 40 locations to digital in near the future.
“AccessIT is excited and proud that Dickinson Theatres will be the first exhibitor partner in our Phase 2 Deployment Plan,” said Chuck Goldwater, President of AccessIT’s Media Services Group. “With more than 80 years of excellence in the exhibition business, Dickinson Theatres and John Hartley and his team have the experience, the vision and the passion to take full advantage of the benefits of digital technology as leaders in the industry."
Read more in Access ITDickinson Theatres, Inc. owns and operates 40 movie theatre locations in 11 states with 380 screens in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. A privately owned organization, Dickinson Theatres, Inc. is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and employs over 1100 staff members including 24 full time corporate employees. For more information about Dickinson Theatres, Inc. visit www.dtmovies.com
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October 24, 2008
World’s first boothless multiplex opens
BESSEMER, AL — Premiere Cinemas has announced the opening of the world’s first multiplex theater without a projector booth.
The Tannehill Premiere Cinema 14 features all digital projection using Barco projectors hung from the ceiling.
Each projector is mounted to a platform suspended about 10 feet above the floor at the top row of each stadium. The enclosure is insulated to prevent noise and vibration leaking through.
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October 23, 2008
Half of UK theaters in danger of closing in five years
Almost half of Britain’s theaters may close down in the next five years because of the transition from film to digital projection, according to a Times Online article.
Only the big multiplexes and a few arthouses will be able to afford the £60,000 cost per screen with three-quarters of screens and 85% of box office being in the London area.
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October 17, 2008
Muvico signs up with Sony
LOS ANGELES, CA — Sony is moving forward with its plan to aggressively sell and install its new 4K digital projectors in theaters by signing an agreement with Muvico Entertainment.
Muvico’s Rosemont, IL location was the first theater in the US to use Sony 4K digital projectors, and following its success there, the movie chain decided to sign an exclusive deal with Sony. Muvico will install Sony technology throughout its new Thousand Oaks, CA facility this winter.
The agreement promises to use Sony equipment throughout its cinemas, such as LCD displays in the lobby and concession areas, PlayStations in its video arcades, VAIO computers for business and accounting, Sony cameras for security, and more.
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October 8, 2008
NATO calls for equity for independent theaters
Following the agreement five movie studios signed with the three largest theater chains to pay virtual print fees to help defray the cost of buying digital cinema projectors, the National Association of Theater Owners called on the studios to sign a similar agreement with the hundreds of independent cinemas around the country.
The theater chains, AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group negotiated the agreement with 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Studios.
The studios will pay a vitual print fee of $800 to $1,000 per film to help the chains convert to digital projection. The average film print costs the studios $1000-to-$1500 plus shipping while a digital print can be sent on a $200 to $300 hard drive which can be used again. Digital projectors cost $70,000-to-$100,000 twice as much as 35mm projectors. The studios are promising to refund the chains their savings over film prints for the next three-to-five years, or until the projectors are paid off.
Financing through JP Morgan and the Blackstone Group will allow the three chains to quickly convert up to 20,000 screens, or more than half the country’s 38,000 auditoriums.
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October 3, 2008
Major Hollywood Studios behind major 3D digital rollout
According to a recent AP News article, five major Hollywood studios (Disney, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, LionsGate and Universal) are helping theaters with a $1Billion-plus rollout of converting many movie screens to show Digital 3D.
The article points out that the average cost of an install will be $70,000 and that they face financing obstacles in the fourth quarter, due to the now growing financing crisis that is hitting financial institutions.
Independent theaters are urging the group to not forget them and are requesting assistance with their screens.
The original article can be found by followingthis link.
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July 22, 2008
AMC opening Northwest’s first all-digital cineplex
TUKWILA, WA — The new AMC Westfield Southcenter not only provides Seattle-area moviegoers with luxurious accommodations but also the Northwest’s first all digital cinema.
It’s not being billed as such, but the opening Friday of AMC’s luxurious 16-screen multiplex at Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila is a milestone event in local movie history. It’s the first large-scale cinema in the Northwest in which every projector is digital.
The 2,900-seat complex is one of 10 nonfilm theaters AMC is introducing into the hard-pressed movie market this year, and the prototype for a movie-theater future that industry experts predict could be all-digital in less than a decade.
Will this transition affect the average moviegoer?
Read the full story in the Seattle PI.
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June 25, 2008
Big-screen giant Imax eyes digital future
With pressure to grow into more areas and still stay relevant, Imax is going digital.
The giant of the large-screen format is beginning one of the biggest initiatives in its 40-year history: switching from 70mm film to a digital system of projection.
Next month, the company will roll out the first three digital Imax installations with exhibitor AMC Entertainment — two in Washington and one in Baltimore. Three more will debut in August in Philadelphia. Imax expects to have digital systems deployed at 50 sites by year’s end, with the goal of converting its 296 owned or equipped theaters in 40 countries.
Imax believes that the digital offerings will prompt new installations and more studio films for release in Imax theaters.
Read more at Reuters.