New Skyfall teaser poster

May 18, 2012 – 12:44 pm | Permalink

A new teaser poster for Skyfall has been released.

Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

The film opens in IMAX theaters November 9, 2012.

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Riverfront Wilmington Adds Westin Hotel and Penn Cinema IMAX Theater

May 18, 2012 – 12:05 pm | Permalink

WILMINGTON, Del., May 18, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Riverfront Wilmington, already home to a thriving neighborhood, flourishing employment center and popular cultural attractions, will add a premier Westin hotel and a state-of-the-art Penn Cinema movie theater complex with IMAX theater. The Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) Board of Directors approved the projects earlier today.

The Westin Wilmington will provide 123 permanent jobs and 167 jobs during construction and is projected to generate $3.9 million in state and city tax revenues in its first three years. Penn Cinema Riverfront will provide 70-full time construction jobs for up to a year. The theater is expected to generate an additional 700,000 annual visits to Riverfront Wilmington.

“Riverfront Wilmington is an incredible redevelopment success story and we are proud to help bring these important amenities to the site, including a much-needed premier hotel that will attract new convention business to the Chase Center at the Riverfront,” said Peggy Strine, chair of the RDC board. “The Penn Cinema complex will enhance the entertainment options at the Riverfront, which already include multiple dining options, museums and the Wilmington Blue Rocks. We are very excited.”

Construction on the hotel as well as the theater complex will begin in the upcoming weeks. The Buccini/Pollin Group (BPG) is the developer of both projects.

The $37 million Westin Wilmington will be connected to the Chase Center on the Riverfront, which is the area’s largest multi-purpose special event facility with 87,000-square-feet of space for meetings and conventions, trade and consumer shows, corporate and social functions and more. The Westin Wilmington will feature 180 rooms, a pool, a restaurant, meeting space, a law center and a fitness center among many other amenities.

The $20 million Penn Cinema Riverfront will have 15 full stadium seating auditoriums along with a full IMAX theater. The large scale of the building, along with dramatic lighting and timeless finishes, will serve as an anchor for Riverfront Wilmington entertainment options.

“Forward-looking projects like the hotel and cinema complex provide jobs, generate tax dollars and add to our quality of life,” said RDC Executive Director Michael S. Purzycki. “That’s what we’re all about. Over the last 15 years, thanks to the visionary leadership and joint efforts of the Delaware General Assembly, city and county officials, former and current Delaware governors and the daily work of the board and staff of the Riverfront Development Corporation, we have transformed a nearly abandoned industrial wasteland into a self-supporting cultural and economic hub that now benefits all residents of the City of Wilmington and the State of Delaware. That’s how and why deals like this get done.”

Construction of the Westin Wilmington project will be privately funded. The RDC board approved the $3 million sale of a .75-acre parcel of land to The Buccini/Pollin Group (BPG) for the hotel and a $3 million loan guarantee to the organization backed by a mortgage on the Chase Center. The City of Wilmington also provided a $1 million loan guarantee for the project.

The RDC board approved the $2 million sale of a property at 401 South Madison Street for the Penn Cinema Riverfront, construction of which is also privately funded.

Details of the project approvals and financing are available at www.riverfrontwilm.com.

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New image from Prometheus

May 17, 2012 – 12:14 pm | Permalink

Check out this new film still from upcoming sci-fi thriller Prometheus.

Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With Prometheus, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

The film opens in IMAX 3D theaters June 8, 2012.

Idris Elba stars as Captain Janek in Prometheus. Photo: Kerry Brown – TM and © 2012 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

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IMAX gets flexible Hollywood movie slate

May 16, 2012 – 4:36 pm | Permalink

The Hollywood Reporter writes:

Giant screen exhibitor Imax Corp. increasingly gets agreement from Hollywood studios to swap a box office dud committed to its screens for a juggernaut more likely to draw foot traffic.

“We’ve learned to have back-ups,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond told the J.P. Morgan Global Technology Media and Telecom Conference on Wednesday, as he elaborated on a more flexible movie slate from the large format exhibitor.

It turns out Imax and its studio partners turn to back-room deal-making when one tentpole can’t hold a candle to another, especially on an opening weekend, which produces occasional agreement to give more Imax screens over to an unstoppable blockbuster.

After all, the Canadian exhibitor has enjoyed recent box office gold from The Hunger Games and The Avengers on its screens, even as it endured bombs like John Carter, Wrath of the Titans and Dark Shadows.

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Wilmington, NC to get digital IMAX

May 16, 2012 – 4:30 pm | Permalink

The Greater Wilmington Business Journal reports:

A popular motion picture film concept will soon be debuting at the Mayfaire Stadium 16 movie theatre.

Paige Kon, Mayfaire marketing director, said the town center’s development office was notified last week of Regal Theatre’s plans to convert one of its theatre screens into an IMAX format.

Four permits totaling $55,000 were filed Monday with the New Hanover County Inspections Department, confirming pending activity for an IMAX theatre conversion.

Regal Entertainment officials confirmed Wednesday that the theatre would be updated with the new projection equipment, and would be ready for viewing this summer.

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UPDATE: More on the upcoming Wilmington IMAX:

WWAY NewsChannel 3: IMAX coming to Mayfaire

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IMAX mid-quarter box office collects $96.5M

May 16, 2012 – 4:13 pm | Permalink

DailyFinance writes:

IMAX (NYS: IMAX) is in a good place right now.

The company behind the supersized theatrical experiences issued its mid-quarter box office update yesterday.

The gross box office receipts collected during this quarter on IMAX screenings — through May 13 — was roughly $96.5 million, nearly triple the $32.6 million in sales during the same period last year.

Between the bar-raising success of Disney’s (NYS: DIS) The Avengers and Lions Gate’s (NYS: LGF) The Hunger Games — and their expanded engagements on IMAX after blowout opening weeks — it’s not a shock to see IMAX screenings doing so well.

Article >>

UPDATE: More on IMAX’s financial standing:

Film Journal International: IMAXimum impact: Studio movies go big with large-format leader

DailyFinance: 4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: IMAX

Trade Flow Review: IMAX Corporation – Trade Flow Review

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New Men in Black 3 featurette featuring Will Smith

May 16, 2012 – 3:21 pm | Permalink

A new featurette for Men in Black 3 has been released focusing on Will Smith’s Agent J.

In Men In Black™ 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back … in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

The film opens in IMAX 3D theaters May 25, 2012.

The Return of Agent J

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Experience the World Through Animal Eyes in National Geographic Crittercam at Discovery Place

May 16, 2012 – 1:31 pm | Permalink

Opens Saturday, May 26

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 15, 2012) — Dive beneath the surface of ice with penguins, swim through tropical landscapes with turtles, forage in the forest with a family of bears and see the world as never before through the eyes of some of the planet’s most majestic and powerful creatures when National Geographic Crittercam: The World Through Animal Eyes opens May 26 at Discovery Place. Showcasing the ongoing research of National Geographic’s Crittercam, a scientific video- and data-gathering tool safely worn by wild animals, the exhibition invites visitors to see the world through animal eyes and encompasses more than 20 years of scientific invention and research collaborations.

“As humans we shoulder a responsibility to protect the amazing animals that share our planet,” said John Mackay, president and CEO of Discovery Place. “Crittercam offers a rare scientific peek into how these species live and perceive the world, and also helps us better understand what we can do to safeguard them.”

The 6,000-square-foot exhibition, developed by the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., takes visitors on a journey through interactive displays, firsthand footage and realistic environments that explore the many stories and animals that are part of the science and adventure of Crittercam. With a focus on devices worn by seals and sea lions, sharks, sea turtles, whales, penguins, bears and lions, tracking through Crittercam has uncovered stunning insights into animal life. New discoveries include:

• The habits of emperor penguins to find prey along the bottom of sea ice rather than during deep portions of their dives as previously believed;
• The distinctive hunting patterns of tiger sharks and how those patterns influence behavior of their prey;
• The tendency of male harbor seals to use and defend locations offshore, where they use vocalizations to attract mates and/or repel competitors;
• The underwater dynamics and specialized roles of individuals in groups of humpback whales practicing a complex foraging behavior known as bubble-net feeding.

Exploring Crittercam

Upon entering the exhibition, visitors encounter a watery environment devoted to seals and sea lions and a series of viewing and listening stations that show how these animals communicate, hunt, feed, care for their young and attract mates. Museum-goers then move to the sharks section for a close-up view of an 18-foot-long great white shark model and displays that illustrate the hunting and migratory behaviors of several shark species. A shark fin model features the latest way of attaching the Crittercam — via a fin clamp. As visitors feel the rough sandpaper that keeps the clamp in place, they can watch a video depicting daring deployments, from early tether systems to a researcher deploying the fin clamp by hand.

Visitors then take the plunge with sea turtles in an area that reveals how turtles search for mates, different foraging behaviors and how the animals avoid becoming a meal themselves. From atop a life-size model of a leatherback sea turtle, children and adults can watch point-of-view footage from a female leatherback, while other displays show life as seen by loggerhead and hawksbill turtles.

A loud feeding call and bubble columns welcome guests to a chamber of bubbles that demonstrates the cooperative behavior of humpbacks known as bubble net, or lunge feeding. Other highlights of this section featuring whales include an up-close look at the toothed whales of Hawaii and footage of the mysterious “unicorn of the sea,” the narwhal.

In the penguin pod, exhibition-goers enter the world of Penguin Ranch, the main research site of the Crittercam team in Antarctica, to investigate a penguin’s life beneath the ice and learn about research with penguins trained to wear Crittercam. Visitors can squeeze into an observation tube to watch a video of penguins soaring underwater, while little guests can crawl through a tunnel and pop up in a bubble to come face-to-face with a lifelike penguin wearing a working Crittercam. On exiting the tunnel, children can view footage of themselves from the penguin’s perspective.

The terrestrial version of Crittercam is the newest development in the program. In the land animals section of the exhibition, visitors learn about the trial-and-error process of developing the land-based technology, from deployments on domestic dogs and cats to partnering with animal rehabilitation centers. Visitors also learn about the unique challenges of studying land animals, from penetrating the dense forest habitat of the grizzly bear to getting the Crittercam collar to pass the lion cub “chew toy” test. Point-of-view footage shows a young Alaskan bear cub napping, feeding and traveling with its family, as well as a lioness hunting, tending to her cubs and sharing a meal with them.

The final section of the exhibition focuses on Crittercam technology, with information on how it works and the original inspiration that led to its development by National Geographic marine biologist Greg Marshall. Visitors can design their own Crittercams using a Build-a-Cam computer interactive, touch a Crittercam model and examine deployment methods such as an adhesive patch, penguin harness and suction cup. Young visitors can try their hand at a Crittercam puzzle.

National Geographic Crittercam: The World Through Animal Eyes is organized, produced and traveled by the National Geographic Museum. In Charlotte, the exhibition is supported by media partners Adams Outdoor Advertising, The Charlotte Observer and Lite 102.9.

After visiting Crittercam, guests can immerse themselves in a giant screen dinosaur-age adventure and go face-to-face with the T-Rex of the seas in Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World, opening at Discovery Place’s The Charlotte Observer IMAX® Dome Theatre on Friday, May 25. Sea Rex takes movie-goers on an unforgettable journey with an imaginative young woman named Julie through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods to swim with creatures that have been extinct for millions of years. For tickets and showtimes visit discoveryplace.org/imax or call 704.372.6261 x300.

Visitor information

Crittercam will be on exhibition at Discovery Place from May 26–September 16, 2012 and is free with Museum admission. Admission to Discovery Place is $12 for adults (ages 14-59); $10 for seniors (ages 60 and older) and $10 for children (ages 2-13); free for children younger than 2 and Members. Tickets to the IMAX Theatre are just $5 when purchased with Museum admission. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more. Discovery Place’s extended summer hours begin May 26. The Museum will be open Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon – 5:00 p.m. For more information call (704) 372-6261 x300 or visit discoveryplace.org or crittercamexhibit.com.

About the National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. The National Geographic Museum produces exhibits based on National Geographic projects, which are displayed at the Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and travel to museums around the world.

About Discovery Place

One of the top hands-on science museums in the nation, Discovery Place provides ever-changing, entertaining facilities that engage people in the active exploration of science and nature. The Museum brings relevant, contemporary science to life through groundbreaking exhibitions, interactive educational programming and hands-on activities. Nearly a half-million people from all over the United States engage with Discovery Place and its IMAX Dome Theatre each year.

Discovery Place is located in uptown Charlotte at 301 N. Tryon Street. Convenient parking is available in the Museum’s parking deck – the Carol Grotnes Belk Complex – at the corner of Sixth and Church Streets. For more information about Discovery Place, call (704)372-6261, visit www.discoveryplace.org or connect with Discovery Place on Facebook , Twitter and YouTube.

Discovery Place Inc. owns and operates Discovery Place, Charlotte Nature Museum and Discovery Place KIDS and is supported, in part, with funding from the Arts & Science Council.

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Film-based vs. digital filmmaking battle it out in summer movies

May 14, 2012 – 1:54 pm | Permalink

The Atlantic writes about summer blockbusters filmed using digital cameras, traditional film and IMAX:

This summer, Hollywood’s blockbusters are engaging in a high-stakes format war between cutting-edge digital technology and old-fashioned, photochemical film. Digitally photographed thrillers like The Avengers, Prometheus, and The Amazing Spider-Man will be battling it out with equally epic movies shot on film such as The Dark Knight Rises, Men in Black 3, and Battleship. Indeed, no summer in recent memory boasts so much variety in terms of how films are photographed and exhibited.

Yet with studios looking to trim costs on increasingly expensive “tentpole” movies, traditional celluloid film—easily the more expensive of the two formats—may be on its way out as the cinema’s medium of choice. Still, advocates of film continue to make compelling arguments about why theirs is the more enduring medium, even as both sides pull out their biggest guns this summer in an effort to prove definitively the commercial value of their respective formats.

. . .

Not to be outdone, however, advocates of film have their own popular, high-res format: IMAX. Although movies shot both digitally and photochemically can be converted to IMAX, the best way to exploit the format is to shoot natively with IMAX cameras, through which 65mm film is fed horizontally to achieve images of breathtaking size and resolution. Director Brad Bird included 30 minutes of IMAX footage, mostly of Tom Cruise scaling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in his recent Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. For this summer’s The Dark Knight Rises, director Christopher Nolan will be featuring more than 60 minutes worth of IMAX film footage—a first for a major studio release.

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IMAX to have more Chinese theaters, films

May 14, 2012 – 1:44 pm | Permalink

China Daily writes:

IMAX is thinking big in China.

“China has become the second-largest market outside of North America for IMAX,” said CEO Richard Gelfond.

As part of its increased cooperation with Chinese filmmakers, the company will release Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, starring Jet Li, in about 30 screens in North America, the first Chinese film to be released there in IMAX 3-D format.

When Avatar hit China in 2010, it was released on only 13 IMAX screens, but now The Avengers is available on 68.
There will be about 100 IMAX screens in China by the end of this year, and another 100 are coming in the next two years, he said.

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BMZ Interview: To the Arctic Director Greg MacGillivray

May 10, 2012 – 2:26 pm | Permalink

Photo Credit: Copyright Florian Schulz

Renowned Giant Screen filmmaker, Greg MacGillivray, speaks with Big Movie Zone on his latest film, To The Arctic. The film takes audiences on a never-before-experienced journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her twin seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home.

Hi Greg.  Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.  It looks to be a busy time for MacGillivray Freeman Films with new partnerships and your One World One Ocean campaign. I was able to catch a fine cut of To The Arctic at last year’s GSCA conference.  How did the idea for the film come about?  Was a focus on the polar bear always a priority in your story?
I’ve been interested in creating a film about the Arctic for more than twenty years. The wildness and grandness of the place makes it the perfect subject matter for the giant IMAX theatre screens. The topic also tested extremely well with IMAX Theatre audiences. In fact, out of 20 different topics I’ve tested over a 15-year period, the Arctic tested the highest. So I knew we would have interested fans. I also knew that polar bears were going to be a big focus in the film, given that they are the iconic Arctic animal, but I didn’t know how much of a focus until we got lucky on our last shoot and found the stars of our film—a mother bear and her two cubs who let us follow them and film them at close range for 5 days straight. This is the first time any filmmaker has had this kind of access to a polar bear family in the wild, and we were able to get rare, close-up footage of different polar bear behaviors, which show just how hard it is to be a polar bear these days.

The plight of the polar bear seems at a desperate tipping point now.  Do you think there’s a chance for their survival and the Arctic environment in general?
The Arctic is changing twice as fast as anywhere else because of warming temperatures, and in that regard, it’s like the canary in the coal mine, warning us of more changes to come. I hope the Arctic will be able to survive these changes, but it means we’ll have to act fast to reverse the warming trends caused by climate change, which won’t be easy. Fortunately, there are groups like our partners at World Wildlife Fund, Oceana, Alaska Wilderness League and Polar Bears International that are working to make sure that what is left of the Arctic is protected so that polar bears will continue to have a home. One reason we made the film was to help audiences fall in love with the Arctic so they would be inspired to support conservation measures. We want to empower people to take small, easy actions that will help protect the Arctic.

Can you tell us a bit about your recent partnership with Coca-Cola and World Wildlife Fund, and how that relates to To The Arctic?
We had a wonderful experience partnering with Coca-Cola and WWF for the launch of their “Arctic Home” holiday campaign last year, which was the first time in Coke’s 125-year history that they’ve asked their fans to donate to a cause, in this case to WWF’s Arctic conservation efforts. We had contacted Coca-Cola about becoming a sponsor, and when they saw our iMAX footage of polar bears, they knew it was the special something that would help them bring their campaign alive for consumers. We agreed to let them use our IMAX footage in their TV advertising and on their website because we knew it would be terrific early promotion for the film and get everyone talking about polar bears. Coke generated more than one billion media impressions with their campaign, and raised nearly $2 million dollars for WWF. So it was a big success for all involved.

For those who want to see To The Arctic, how many theaters have launched the film?
Warner Bros. and IMAX Corporation opened the film on April 20 in 50 IMAX theatres in the U.S. and Canada, primarily in institutional venues. They are planning a second release to commercial IMAX theatres later this fall.

What keeps your interest in the IMAX format and in documentary filmmaking?
Making IMAX films allows me to keep exploring the far corners of our beautiful planet and to meet people who share my love of the natural world, especially the ocean. The IMAX format is still the most superior entertainment medium available, and there is nothing more gratifying than making films that transport people to these faraway places that allow them to rediscover the unique specialness of their world. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

One World One Ocean is MFF’s big upcoming project.  I understand it encompasses several of your films.  Can you elaborate on the films and the project’s outreach in other formats?
Over the next 10 years, we’ll be making at least eight to ten more IMAX films about the ocean, as well as an 8-part television series that should be ready next year, a 3D theatrical documentary, and thousands of digital videos as part of our original online programming series. Our mission is to use compelling storytelling and entertainment to change how people see and value the ocean, and galvanize a new movement to better protect and restore our oceans. Already we are the largest ocean media campaign out there, and with the release of To The Arctic, we are just getting started.

Many LF producers have been using digital cameras to capture some, or all of their films over the past few years.  MFF has been one of the few companies who has up to this point stuck with 15/70 film.  What is MFF’s position on digital capture, moving forward?
Like many of my filmmaking friends who know why people have attended IMAX theatres for 40 years believe, you need a sense of reality which is currently only possible with 1570 film capture and projection. Digital is getting better, but it still isn’t there at the 1570 quality level yet. Many of the most successful theatres have IMAX Dome screens, and Dome screens account for about 40% of our educational film market (audience size and film income). The digitally captured images look very poor on the Dome screens.

Other than To The Arctic and One World One Ocean, are there other projects you can tell us about, Giant Screen or otherwise?
We’re still in production on Everest: Conquering Thin Air, the sequel to our 1998 hit film Everest. We’re also looking to start a new media agency within our company that would serve as a communications platform for major brands and NGOs looking to communicate their message to consumers. We’ll have a more formal announcement about that new company very soon.

Many thanks for speaking with us and best of luck with your upcoming films!

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New featurette for Men in Black 3

May 10, 2012 – 1:16 pm | Permalink

A new featurette for Men in Black 3 has been released.

In Men In Black™ 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back … in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

The film opens in IMAX 3D theaters May 25, 2012.

The Look of MIB 3

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To the Arctic opens in Montreal

May 9, 2012 – 3:45 pm | Permalink

The Montreal Science Centre’s IMAX theater is set to play To the Arctic starting this Friday. The Montreal Gazette writes of the film:

The Arctic is the planet’s air conditioner, cooling the Earth’s temperatures with its sprawling sea ice and massive glaciers.

What climate change is doing to these crucial swaths of sea ice is studied in the IMAX film To the Arctic 3D, which opens at the Montreal Science Centre Friday.

Directed by veteran IMAX director Greg MacGillivray and produced by his son Shaun, the film features the best of eight-months worth of footage shot over four years.

The opening, sweeping aerial shots of glaciers and frigid expanses of water set the tone as does celebrity narrator Meryl Streep, who delivers Stephen Judson’s crisp script with just the right mix of care and urgency.

Paul McCartney supplied (and sang) the film’s original songs and added a couple of familiar tunes to the mix. The haunting original score is composed by Steve Wood.

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Warner Bros.’ Rock of Ages To Debut In Select IMAX® Theatres

May 9, 2012 – 11:48 am | Permalink

LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX; TSX: IMX) and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Rock of Ages, based on the hit Broadway musical, will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® format and released for a limited domestic engagement in select IMAX® theatres, day-and-date with the film’s release on June 15, 2012. Directed by Adam Shankman, the film stars Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alec Baldwin.

“Warner Bros. and Tom Cruise have been great partners and an early look at Rock of Ages is getting great response,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “The film’s crowd-pleasing soundtrack will sound incredible in IMAX theatres during this select, hand-picked release.”

The IMAX release of Rock of Ages will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more.

The movie musical stars Julianne Hough (“Burlesque”), with actor/singer Diego Boneta in his feature film debut, Russell Brand (“Arthur,” “Get Him to the Greek”), Oscar® nominee Paul Giamatti (“Cinderella Man”), Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago”), Malin Akerman (“The Proposal”), R&B queen Mary J. Blige and multiple Emmy®-winner Bryan Cranston (TV’s “Breaking Bad,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”), with Oscar® nominees Alec Baldwin (“The Cooler”) and Tom Cruise (“Born on the Fourth of July”).

Shankman directs “Rock of Ages” from a screenplay by Justin Theroux and Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, based on D’Arienzo’s musical of the same name. The film is being produced by Matthew Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Grant and Jennifer Gibgot, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown, Hillary Butorac Weaver, Janet Billig Rich, Shankman and D’Arienzo serving as executive producers.

Rounding out the “Rock of Ages” creative team are director of photography Bojan Bazelli (“Hairspray”), production designer Jon Hutman (“It’s Complicated”), editor Emma E. Hickox (“A Walk To Remember”), Oscar®-nominated costume designer Rita Ryack (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Hairspray”), Grammy-nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan (“Dreamgirls,” “Nine”), executive and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mia Michaels (“So You Think You Can Dance”). The original score is by Adam Anders and Peer Astrom (TV’s “Glee”).

New Line Cinema presents, a Corner Store Entertainment production, in association with Material Pictures, in association with Offspring Entertainment, an Adam Shankman film, “Rock of Ages.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX Corporation is one of the world’s leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry’s top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company’s new digital projection and sound systems – combined with a growing blockbuster film slate – are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX delivers the world’s best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX®, IMAX 3D®, and IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience®.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of March 31, 2012, there were 643 IMAX theatres (510 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 113 institutional) in 52 countries.

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience® and The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX management’s assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the performance of IMAX DMR films, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by IMAX, competitive actions by other companies, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes in law or regulations, conditions, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to respond to changes and advancements in digital technology, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions and any future international expansion, the inability to protect IMAX’s intellectual property foreign currency fluctuations and IMAX’s prior restatements and the related litigation. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Source >>

UPDATE: Additional news items on Rock of Ages in IMAX:

The Hollywood Reporter: Tom Cruise-starrer ‘Rock of Ages’ Headed to Imax Screens

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Avengers, Dark Shadows to share IMAX screens

May 8, 2012 – 3:22 pm | Permalink

A new agreement between Disney and Warner Bros. will have Marvel’s The Avengers and Dark Shadows sharing digital IMAX screen. Variety writes:

It turns out Disney-Marvel’s “The Avengers” won’t have to vacate any Imax houses this weekend after all.

Disney and Warner Bros. agreed Monday to evenly split digital Imax showtimes this weekend between “Avengers” and “Dark Shadows,” leaving the Marvel pic in all 275 digital-only Imax screens from which it collected a record-setting $15.3 million last weekend. Originally, “Avengers” was slated to lose 200 of those Imax locations to “Dark Shadows,” as dictated by a pre-existing, three-year pact inked between Imax and Warners in April 2010.

Prior to Monday’s agreement, “Dark Shadows” had secured 225 Imax locations all to itself from varying U.S. markets — though many of the top-grossing venues fell within the 75 screens that “Avengers’” was slated to retain. By sharing screens and staggering showtimes, “Dark Shadows” now has runs in all 300 Imax houses, with approximately 25 print-only locations to itself (“Avengers,” a digital-only release, couldn’t play in those.)

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UPDATE: Additional news items on the Disney, Warner Bros. agreement:

ComicBookMovie.com: THE AVENGERS & DARK SHADOWS To Share Imax Screens

The Daily BLAM!: THE AVENGERS WILL RETAIN ALL IMAX SCREENS THIS WEEKEND IN NEW SHARING DEAL WITH WARNER BROS

Screen Crush: ‘DARK SHADOWS’ AND ‘THE AVENGERS’ CALL IMAX TRUCE

The Wall Street Journal: Imax’s Big Screens Gain A Bigger ‘Avengers’ Run

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New trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man

May 8, 2012 – 2:46 pm | Permalink

A new trailer has been released for The Amazing Spider-Man.

One of the world’s most popular characters is back on the big screen as a new chapter in the Spider-Man legacy is revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man.

The film opens in IMAX 3D theaters July 3, 2012.

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New Dark Shadows featurette on Barnabas Collins

May 8, 2012 – 1:55 pm | Permalink

Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new Dark Shadows featurette focused on Barnabas Collins played by Johnny Depp.

Director Tim Burton brings the cult classic series “Dark Shadows” to the big screen in a film featuring an all-star cast, led by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter.

The film opens in IMAX theaters May 11, 2012.

Barnabas Unearthed Featurette

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The Last Reef’s Powerful, Positive Message Garners Awards, Thrills Audiences, and Highlights the Importance of Threatened Ocean Communities

May 8, 2012 – 1:09 pm | Permalink

Described as “breathtaking” and “positively otherworldly” by The Montreal Gazette, The Last Reef contributed to a record-breaking March break at the Montreal Science Center, drawing over 19,500 viewers in only nine days.

Premiering with support from global partners including the United Nations Environment Program, NOAA, and Tommy Remengesau, Jr. (former president of Palau), the film is a hit with critics and audiences alike. Among other honors, The Last Reef most recently received the Save Our Seas Foundation’s award for Best Marine Conservation Message at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

The Last Reef inspires audiences with the beauty and diversity of the ocean’s complex parallel worlds, and builds awareness of our power to preserve these seemingly-distant “cities beneath the sea.” This uplifting environmental message is uniting world-renowned conservation scientists, global leaders, and the film’s directors, in an effort to share the importance of these fragile ecosystems.

“There are people out there who I think are reachable and I think films like this help because you have to grab somebody’s heart strings in order to make them listen,” said Dr. Sacha Vignieri, associate editor of Science, at an exclusive preview of The Last Reef hosted by the magazine’s publisher, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, at its headquarters in Washington, DC.

Check out Voice of America‘s featured Earth Day coverage of The Last Reef here.

The Last Reef is a production of Giant Screen Films, Yes/No Productions, and Liquid Pictures and is directed by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas; Director of Photography: D.J. Roller.  The film is distributed by Giant Screen Films and opened worldwide in February 2012.

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Tornado Alley to play in Mobile, Alabama

May 7, 2012 – 1:40 pm | Permalink

Giant Screen film Tornado Alley opens tomorrow at Mobile, Alabama’s Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. The Press-Register writes:

As the Gulf Coast enters the peak of tornado season along with the region of America’s heartland known as “the severe weather capital of the world,” a new film narrated by Bill Paxton (star of the movie “Twister”) brings the fury of this weather phenomenon to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in downtown Mobile.

“Tornado Alley” (2011/43 min.) opens Tuesday, May 8, at the 177-seat J.L. Bedsole IMAX Done Theater. The film follows large-format filmmaker Sean Casey, star of the Discovery Channel’s popular “Storm Chasers” series, and researchers of the Vortex2 initiative on their quest to chart and record the birth of a tornado.

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Marvel’s The Avengers Sets Domestic, Global 3-Day Opening Weekend Records In IMAX® Theatres

May 7, 2012 – 11:55 am | Permalink

Film Plays to Virtual Capacity Across IMAX® Theatres Domestically, Driving Record $15.3 Million Opening Weekend Box Office
Film Grosses Approximately $31.3 Million To Date in IMAX Theatres Worldwide

LOS ANGELES, May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX) Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Studios today announced that the epic Super Hero adventure Marvel’s The Avengers has surpassed IMAX’s domestic opening weekend box office record by generating $15.3 million of the film’s record-setting domestic gross of more than $200 million, resulting in an IMAX per-screen average of approximately $56,000 in 275 digital IMAX® theaters.

Internationally, the film generated approximately $6.1 million over the weekend in 176 IMAX theatres, of which 80 were debut runs. This brings IMAX’s international total to $16 million. Some international markets, including Poland and Japan, have yet to open.

The film also set a new IMAX three-day opening weekend global box office record with $21.4 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $31.3 million in IMAX theatres worldwide since its global release on April 25.

“With sellouts all weekend and IMAX fans around the world coming out in record numbers to see Marvel’s The Avengers, the only way we could have done better would have been to have more seats,” said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “We saw particularly strong results in IMAX’s key growth markets including China, which opened on Saturday to sell-out business across our network.”

“Extremely strong word-of-mouth resulted in exceptional day-to-day as well as week-to-week holds across our global network,” said Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment. “With more international markets still to open, we expect this trend to continue over the next few weeks as the film continues to play in a number of domestic and international IMAX theatres. Congratulations to our longtime partners at Marvel, Disney and director Joss Whedon – IMAX is honored to be a part of this epic, record breaking cinematic event.”

Marvel’s The Avengers, based on the well-known Marvel comic book series, is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Distributed by The Walt Disney Studios, Marvel’s The Avengers: An IMAX 3D Experience marks the third Marvel Studios film presented in IMAX, following the releases of Iron Man 2: The IMAX Experience in 2010 and Thor: An IMAX 3D Experience in 2011.

The IMAX release of Marvel’s The Avengers was digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of An IMAX 3D Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that makes audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Marvel’s The Avengers

Marvel Studios presents “Marvel’s The Avengers”—the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. “Marvel’s The Avengers” is an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film was produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The story is by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon and the screenplay is by Joss Whedon. The film was released May 4, 2012, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over 70 years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit www.marvel.com. Super Hero(es) is a co-owned registered trademark.

About The Walt Disney Studios

For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel; and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live-action films from DreamWorks Studios. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!. For more information, visit www.waltdisneystudios.com.

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX Corporation is one of the world’s leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry’s top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company’s new digital projection and sound systems – combined with a growing blockbuster film slate – are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX deliver the world’s best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX®, IMAX 3D®, and IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience®.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of March 31, 2012, there were 643 IMAX theatres (510 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 113 institutional) in 52 countries.

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience® and The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX management’s assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the performance of IMAX DMR films, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by IMAX, competitive actions by other companies, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes in law or regulations, conditions, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to respond to changes and advancements in digital technology, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions and any future international expansion, the inability to protect IMAX’s intellectual property foreign currency fluctuations and IMAX’s prior restatements and the related litigation. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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UPDATE: Additional news on IMAX box office:

CNN: Imax rides on soaring Chinese 3D demand

Live Trading News: Hollywood Box Office The Avengers, IMAX and Disney Big Winners

Forbes: “The Avengers” Smash More Than Box Office Expectations

Proactiveinvestors: Imax says The Avengers sets new 3-day opening weekend records for its theaters

Deadline.com: IMAX Ran Out Of Seats To Sell ‘Avengers’

Hollywood in HiDef: Avengers with a vengeance

Avid Investor Group: Marvel Crushes Movie Records — Disney, IMAX, and Netflix Win

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