In a previous Display Daily, I reported the rapidly growing number of domed theaters as public venues for immersive, ultra-high definition viewing experiences. As a benchmark, the number of installations, according to Planetarium magazine, was skyrocketing past IMAX (Toronto, Canada; www.imax.com) installations worldwide. It would be easy to conclude that IMAX was on its way out as a leading cinematographic technology. But hold the presses - in the last week IMAX has hit the newswires with not one, but two expansion deals.

John DiLoreto
Analyst and Editor for
Insight Media

The first deal takes us to Russia, that beacon of high technology and entertainment. IMAX announced three theatre deals there, marking their first entry into the country with their digital projection system. The three new theatres are to be installed between 2009 and 2011.

IMAX is led by co-chairmen and co-CEOs Richard Gelfond and Bradley Wechsler, who, fittingly, issued a joint statement. In it, they pointed to the IMAX Digital projection system being designed to help drive profitability for exhibitors by virtually eliminating the need for film prints, increasing program flexibility and ultimately increasing the number of movies shown on IMAX screens. The new system is capable of showing Hollywood movies that have been digitally re-mastered for IMAX and IMAX 3D. The system will also be capable of showing original IMAX documentaries.

The IMAX Digital projection systems will be installed in the cities of Sochi, Nizinhy Novogorod and Novosibirsk. In Sochi, the agreement is with Luxor Cinemax, one of the largest exhibitors in Russia, and the first with digital projection in its multiplexes.

Luxor, for its part, made a point of the "the favorable economics of IMAX’s digital theatre system." According to the General Director of Luxor Cinemax Igor Dobrovolsky, "The new IMAX theatre will enable us to offer our customers a premium cinema experience that cannot be replicated at home or in any other type of theatre."

We now travel to Canada, which is still international, if not so foreign. Here, IMAX and Regal Cinemas signed a thirty-one theatre joint venture deal that more than doubles Regal’s IMAX presence in North America

Regal Entertainment Group is the world’s largest theatre circuit with 6,388 screens in 527 locations. Modest by comparison are its IMAX Digital projection installation in only 20 US markets. However, the 31 new theatres will expand the IMAX/Regal joint venture to 52 theatres by the end of 2010.

The first group of new theatres is expected to open in time for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: The IMAX Experience, which opens this November. And IMAX has already secured major parts of its film slate for 2008 through 2010 with agreements with major Hollywood studios that include several 3D titles. These extraordinary immersive entertainment experiences are available 299 IMAX theatres operating in 39 countries, as of the end of 2007.

So, while its theatre installations may not be currently growing as fast as domed theaters, at least you can count on more entertaining fare than "the planets and universe around us."

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