Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture' ALICE IN WONDERLAND, will be released to IMAX theatres simultaneously with the film's wide release on March 5, 2010. The special IMAX 3-D release will be digitally re-mastered. This is the third film confirmed out of the five-film agreement between IMAX and Disney, which was announced on November 19, 2008.
The largest 3-D film ever released, the animated MONSTERS VS. ALIENS (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation) is a success at the box office, bringing in $59.3 million in its debut. The film grossed approximately $32.6 million on the 2,080 3-D screens (including IMAX), which represents only 28 percent of the film's runs and accounts for 56 percent of the total weekend gross.
It was the biggest weekend debut of 2009, the best opening for a 3-D film and the biggest spring opening for a non-sequel animated film.
WATCHMEN will open on 3,611 screens this weekend, the most ever for an R-rated film, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Among those will be 124 IMAX theaters, as well as 29 international IMAX theaters. On MovieTickets.com, IMAX ticket sales account for one-third of all Watchmen sales, and IMAX's site crashed four times this week due to WATCHMEN traffic surges, according to IMAX Filmed Entertainment president Greg Foster.
IMAX Corporation and Rising Star Media, a joint venture between National Amusements, Inc. and Soquel Ventures, have agreed to install an IMAX theatre at Rising Star's KinoStar City multiplex at Mega Belyadacha regional mall in Moscow, Russia.
Starting April 1, 2009, Bradley J. Wechsler, currently co-Chairman and co-CEO of IMAX, will become the sole Chairman of the Board.
Paramount Pictures' STAR TREK, from director J.J. Abrams, will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theatres worldwide on May 8, 2009.
STAR TREK, which chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members, will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Paramount Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to IMAX theatres worldwide.
Europe's largest theater chain, Odeon, today opened the continent's first digital projection IMAX systems at two multiplexes in London, per VARIETY.
Costing $2.2 million, the company hopes to cash in on the Christmas movie rush, starting with the U.K. release of MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA on Friday followed by THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL on December 12.
British audiences have a healthy appetite for IMAX event films, and Odeon CEO Rupert Gavin said more IMAX screens are being considered on more of the company's 857 U.K. screens.
Disney's A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the 3-D 2009 holiday release from director Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey, will be the first film from The Walt Disney Studios slated for IMAX theatres under a new five-picture arrangement the studio reached with IMAX Corporation.
IMAX Corporation and Twentieth Century Fox have reached agreement on material terms to release the highly anticipated 3-D motion picture AVATAR in IMAX 3-D simultaneously with the motion picture's premiere in conventional 3-D theatres on December 18, 2009.
DreamWorks Animation's MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA will open domestically on November 7, 2008 in a record 130 IMAX theatres, including 35 new locations equipped with IMAX's digital projection system, in conjunction with the film's nationwide release. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA is the second of five DreamWorks Animation films slated for release in IMAX theatres from June 2008 to May 2010.
Director Michael Bay will shoot key sequences of TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN with IMAX cameras. The IMAX footage will be integrated with CGI for the sequel to last year's box office hit, TRANSFORMERS.
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, from DreamWorks and Paramount, will be released to IMAX theatres simultaneously with the movie's wide release on June 26, 2009.
Warner Bros. is offering Academy members the option to receive screeners in Blu-ray format instead of the traditional watermarked DVDs, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The winner here, is Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT, which is the rare summer mega-blockbuster to garner awards-season buzz as well and could benefit from a Blu-ray screener.
Action thriller EAGLE EYE from DreamWorks will open domestically on September 26, 2008 in 84 IMAX theatres, including 14 new IMAX digital theatres, in conjunction with the film's nationwide release. The film will also open in 13 IMAX theatres internationally throughout the coming weeks starting on September 25.
EAGLE EYE has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology.
Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX have confirmed the release date for the next original IMAX 3-D release, UNDER THE SEA 3D, will be February 13, 2009. The film follows the box office hit DEEP SEA 3D, also shot by award-winning Cinematographer/Director Howard Hall, which has grossed more than $72 million to date.
Twentieth Century Fox's THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, directed by Scott Dickerson and starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Jaden Smith, will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theaters on December 12, 2008. The film, which is a remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth, will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology.
The IMAX release of DreamWorks Animation's MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA has been extended to include the Thanksgiving holiday, and will now run into December. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience and play for a full run in IMAX theatres, including select new IMAX Digital theatres, which began rolling out this summer.
MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA opens on November 7 in North America.
Warner Bros.' THE DARK KNIGHT: The IMAX Experience has crossed the $55 million mark in worldwide gross box office receipts after its seventh week of release. As of Friday, the film reached a total of $43.2 million from 101 IMAX screens domestically and $12 million from 41 IMAX screens internationally.
IMAX industry veteran Patricia Brandino has joined 3D Entertainment Distribution in the newly created position of VP, Film Sales. Effective September 7, Brandino will be responsible for theatrical sales of the company's current and future film catalogue in North America, including Jean-Michel Cousteau's DOLPHINS AND WHALES 3D released domestically at IMAX 3-D theatres earlier this year. She will report directly to Francois Mantello, the chairman of 3D Entertainment and its distribution unit.
Reflecting Thursday's announcement that the release date of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE has moved to July 2009, IMAX Corporation, confirmed it is already exploring alternative titles for this year's holiday season and is "confident" it will secure a solid film for the IMAX theatre network.
The company will announce a replacement film as soon as possible.
Disney announced it has moved their next animated feature, BOLT, up a week, to November 21 to fill the vacancy.
IMAX Corporation today reported that it recorded a net loss per diluted share of $0.29 for the second quarter of fiscal 2008, compared to a net loss of $0.11 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2007.
At the same time, the company announced that the roll out of its IMAX Digital system technology launched as scheduled, with the successful delivery and installation of its first three digital projection systems at three AMC Entertainment theatres located in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, during the second quarter.
Alain Bielik concludes his two-part report on The Dark Knight with Double Negative, Framestore and Buf.
Warner Bros.' THE DARK KNIGHT, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, and directed by Christopher Nolan, shattered opening box office records on 94 IMAX screens during its debut. The IMAX release contributed $6.3 million of the $158.4 million that the film grossed at the domestic box office, on a total of 94 North American screens this weekend.
IMAX Corporation and Tokyu Recreation, the owner of 109 Cinemas, one of Japan's largest exhibition chains, have entered into a joint venture agreement to install up to four IMAX theatres in Japan. The agreement marks IMAX's second international joint venture deal, as the Company aligns itself with top exhibitors worldwide with its new IMAX Digital theatre system. To date, IMAX has signed contracts for more than 180 IMAX Digital theatre systems, with approximately 50 expected to be installed by the end of 2008.
Warner Bros.' THE DARK KNIGHT, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, and directed by Christopher Nolan, will open in a record 94 IMAX theatres domestically on July 18 in conjunction with the film's wide release.
The film will also open in 15 IMAX theatres day-and-date internationally, with at least 23 additional international locations opening in the coming weeks.
Concurrently with THE DARK KNIGHT's debut in commercial 35mm and digital theatres, THE DARK KNIGHT: The IMAX Experience will be released in IMAX theatres July 18, 2008.
THE DARK KNIGHT: The IMAX Experience will feature six sequences filmed with IMAX cameras (including the opening six minutes).
This marks the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras, marking a revolutionary integration of the two film formats.
