Video: Promo to Fuel TV’s “The Making of Ultimate Wave Tahiti”

Check out this promo from Fuel TV for “The Making of Ultimate Wave Tahiti.”

The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D follows nine-time World Champion surfer Kelly Slater and Tahitian surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer as they explore the nature of waves and hunt for the ultimate wave-riding experience at the famed Pacific surf site of Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

The film comes to IMAX and other Giant Screen theaters February 12.

Source >>

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Helen Mirren To Narrate Arabia, An All-New 3D Film For IMAX® Theatres

Film premieres February 12 in select IMAX and IMAX 3D Theatres; Timely IMAX Theatre adventure presents a kaleidoscopic portrait spanning 2,000 years of Arabian history, as told by three modern-day Arabians

Arabia will be screened at the GSCA Film Expo in Los Angeles on February 23

LAGUNA BEACH, Ca. (February 8, 2010) – MacGillivray Freeman Films announced today that Academy Award®-winning actress Helen Mirren is the narrator for Arabia, a timely new 3D giant-screen adventure opening in select IMAX and IMAX 3D Theatres starting February 12.

A sweeping portrait of the history, culture and religion of the Arabian Peninsula, Arabia is a mix of contemporary scenes of modern-day Arabian life, epic historical recreations of ancient civilizations, and stunning digital visual effects. Produced and distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films, Arabia is presented in association with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) of London. Distinguished British author and historian Robert Lacey also narrates a segment in the film.

Nineteen IMAX Theatres are scheduled to premiere Arabia to date including the Boston Museum of Science, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Science Museum of Minnesota, Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Detroit Science Center, Ft. Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Le Vieux-Port de Montreal, The Scientific Center of Kuwait, and others.

“Arabia takes audiences deep inside the Arabian culture, which is steeped in history and unique customs not found anywhere else in the world,” said producer/director Greg MacGillivray, a two-time Academy Award nominee. “We spent months shooting where no cameras of any kind have ever been, so that we could better understand this important part of the world for ourselves. I think we have brought back a fresh portrait of Arabia’s remarkable people and history. Helen Mirren’s enormous talent and artistic sensibility help conjure up the mystery and the humanity of Arabia for audiences as they journey through the film.”

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, and nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Last Station, Helen Mirren is a paragon of fine acting. Four decades of dedicated work in cinema, television and the theater make Mirren one of the most enduring talents in the entertainment industry. Arabia is her first giant-screen film.

Shot over the course of two years at more than twenty locations across Saudi Arabia, Arabia is the first major film about Arabia to be filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia. A kaleidoscopic portrait that delves into Arabia’s storied past and oncoming future, Arabia uses the power of IMAX 3D cinematography to invite audiences to ride across the dunes with a camel caravan, dive into the treasure-laden Red Sea, explore the ruins of an ancient lost city, journey back in time to the Islamic golden age of science, and join three million Muslims on the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca) — the most sacred journey in the Islamic tradition and the largest single gathering on Earth. Told through the lives of three modern-day Arabians, the film also introduces audiences to the young Arabians transforming tomorrow’s world.

“No other medium can convey the culture and atmosphere of another land as well as an IMAX Theatre film,” says MacGillivray. “And with this film, we hope to separate myth from reality. I think audiences will be fascinated by the different aspects of Arabia and its culture based on strong family ties, its devotion to faith and its struggle to balance ancient values with the modern world. This is a film full of surprises, including the surprise of how much, underneath it all, our people share in common.”

Arabia is directed by Greg MacGillivray, produced by Greg MacGillivray and Mark Krenzien, and written by Jack Stephens. The original score is composed by Steve Wood and features music by Yusuf Islam.

A photographic companion book authored by Michael Morgan and featuring a Foreword by Robert Lacey and an Afterword by His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal — Arabia: In Search of the Golden Ages — is available from Earth Aware Editions (May 2010).

MacGillivray Freeman Films will screen Arabia at the GSCA Film Expo in Los Angeles on February 23 and in San Diego on February 25 for Dome Day.

Press Release >>

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Quiksilver to have live updates from The Ultimate Wave Tahiti premiere

Tonight is the private premiere of The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D at the California Science Center IMAX Theater in Los Angeles.

Quiksilver will be there live updating from the event. Follow everything that’s happening at the premiere right on facebook by watching live video updates starting 4:00 PM PST Monday, February 8th here: Link >>

Also check out Quiksilver on facebook: www.facebook.com/quiksilver

Also don’t forget you can become a fan of The Ultimate Wave Tahiti on facebook for all the latest news and updates on the film: “The Ultimate Wave Tahiti” on facebook >>

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Greatest Places’ photography is ‘breathtaking’

San Diego New Network has posted a review on Giant Screen film, The Greatest Places. The 1998 film is currently playing at San Diego’s Reuben H. Fleet Science Center IMAX theater.

“The Greatest Places” is an IMAX film about seven of Earth’s most beautiful and diverse locations.

These places include Madagascar, Greenland, Tibet, South America’s Amazon River, and the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Though the documentary was first released in 1998, it recently premiered in San Diego at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

The filmmakers do a great job of capturing the panorama behind all of the locations. There is also strong narration from actor/musician Avery Brooks, who provides memorable facts about the species and geography of each great place. Though the documentary is only 40 minutes long, each area is given enough screen time to justify why these locations are considered magnificent.

The photography is breathtaking. It’s as though the cinematography pulls the audience into the spectacular images on the screen. The place that visually impressed me the most was the island of Madagascar because of the rare lemurs that inhabit the island and the unique plants, such as the baobab (”upside-down tree”), which is the national tree of Madagascar.

Read the full review: Link >>

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3D TV tech gets analyzed by NY Times

The New York Times has posted an article on the upcoming surge of 3D TVs. Here are some basic consumer questions on the new technology:

Do I still have to use those dumb blue-and-red glasses?

No. Those glasses are used in something called anaglyphic 3-D. They use two colors — red and blue (sometimes green) — to create two different “views” of an image. Popular in the 1950s and 1960s, they are going the way of the dodo. Now you have to use newer, sleeker dumb glasses.

Can I just keep the glasses I used when I watched “Avatar” and “Up” in the theater?

Technically you should be able to — those are passive 3-D glasses and they use a system of polarization that splits the image on screen into two separate images. This is fine for a large room when everyone is seated in front of the screen. But 3-D TV manufacturers can’t tell what your room will look like and, more important, don’t want to sell 3-D glasses for a few pennies when they can sell fancier “active” glasses for $70.

Active? $70? What’s so special?

Active glasses allow light to reach only one eye at a time. As you watch the video, the display shows one side of the image, then the other in rapid succession. The glasses sync up with the image, alternately darkening over one eye. In this way, the display presents a different perspective for each eye. This also allows you to walk around the room and still get a fairly good 3-D effect.

The glasses flash? Are they electronic? That means you have to charge them, right?

Yes. As if there weren’t enough wires in your family room.

Read the full article: Link >>

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World Screen: Janson Sells Giant Screen Title into Russia

WorldScreen.com reports:

Janson Media has licensed Straight-Up: Helicopters in Action from its Giant Screen Films Collection to Red Media Group of Russia for the HD Life channel.

The documentary, narrated by Martin Sheen, shows the role that helicopters play in modern civil and military aviation around the world. The documentaries in the Giant Screen Collection were filmed for release in IMAX and other Giant Screen theaters. Each film or docudrama in the collection looks at subjects and locations from the around the world to uncover their mystique and beauty.

Red Media and Janson have a prior relationship established, including a deal last May for 10 hours and a 100-hour deal the year prior.

Source >>

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MTV posts five things you didn’t know about Alice in Wonderland

MTV has posted some trivia on the upcoming film, Alice in Wonderland, due in IMAX 3D theaters March 5, 2010:

Johnny Depp– Actor, Musician… Painter?
Unless you’ve been living at the bottom of the ocean, you’re already well aware that superstar actor Johnny Depp is playing the (very fitting) role of the Mad Hatter. Apparently, when he first heard from Burton that this is the part he would play in “Alice,” long before any serious production got underway, the actor took it upon himself to prepare. He did this by creating watercolor paintings of the Hatter, which he later learned fell very close to Burton’s own vision for the character. Not terribly surprising, considering how frequently the two have worked together.

Resizing Alice
Anyone familiar with the classic tale of “Alice in Wonderland” knows that the titular young girl frequently changes size throughout the story. Her return trip to Burton’s vision of Wonderland is no different. Star Mia Wasikowska is 5′ 4″ in real life. In the movie, Alice’s height fluctuates, ranging from six inches all the way up to 20 feet. Rather than rely solely on digital effects, the production team took a page from Peter Jackson’s work with the Hobbits and Dwarves of “The Lord of the Rings,” even turning to the decidedly low-tech solution of an apple box to make Wasikowska taller.

Read the rest of the article: Link >>

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Australia film is ‘timeless as the land itself’

Quad-City Times has posted a review on the 2002 Giant Screen film, Australia: Land Beyond Time, currently playing at the Davenport, Iowa’s Putnam Museum IMAX theater:

OK, I admit it: I could watch koala bears and kangaroos wandering around onscreen for hours and be perfectly content.

You will see the koalas, kangaroos and much, much more in “Australia: Land Beyond Time,” a film as timeless as the land itself. It’s old-school in its approach. It’s simple, with great, but subtle, music and no celebrity voiceovers. It relies on the imagery to tell its story, and it does that beautifully.

The whole idea behind the film is that Australia — we even see the birth of the continent — is a land of naturally fluctuating temperatures and environments, from desert to deluge. Truly, as the voiceover says, this is more like another planet than another country. And its wild animal residents have adapted to the flux in intriguing ways.

Read the full review: Link >>

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Bournemouth resident gauges public opinion of IMAX demolition

Bournemouth, UK’s Daily Echo reports on the on-going controversy over the Bournemouth IMAX. Just days after the announcement to demolish the defunct theater had been made, the owning company Sheridan Group revealed plans to reopen the theater. Now a Bournemouth resident has launched a Facebook group to gauge public interest in the destruction of the theater which many residents deem an eyesore:

THE organisers of an Imax Demolition Party are planning a public meeting in a campaign to make sure the Waterfront building disappears.

The party was launched on Facebook two weeks ago and had signed up 641 supporters by yesterday – along with 141 signatures to an online petition.

That means the party’s online supporters probably outnumber the paying members of any of the political parties’ constituency branches locally.

Artist Graeme Sweetapple, 37, from Bournemouth, launched the group after the Daily Echo revealed that Bournemouth council planned to spend £7.5 million acquiring and “substantially demolishing” the Waterfront building, which contains the defunct giant-screen cinema.

“I thought it was about time we gauged public opinion on the issue and so far it’s been very successful,” he said.

Critics have said the council’s plan to bulldoze the building will effectively cost everyone in the borough £75 and be a waste of public money.

But Mr Sweetapple said: “If it comes to spending £7.5 million getting rid of a building like this, which is an absolute monstrosity, I think the generally shared opinion is most people would pay double to see it go.

“There are a lot worse things to spend the money on.”

Article >>

UPDATE: Additional news on the theater:

Daily Echo: Councillor backs calls to save Imax

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Avatar IMAX 3D run ending Feb 10 in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids Entertainment reports on the last chance to see Avatar in IMAX 3D in Grand Rapids:

One week: That’s all Grand Rapidians have left to see “Avatar” in IMAX 3-D.

The mega-sized version of the film will end its run at the IMAX auditorium at Celebration Cinema North on Wed., Feb. 10. There are a couple of reasons why.

One, there’s a limited number of prints available to exhibitors. Lansing residents have been clamoring to see “Avatar” on IMAX, so the North print is being shipped to the Celebration Cinema over there.

Secondly, the North IMAX screen has two new films scheduled to open next week: “Mysteries of the Great Lakes” and “Galapagos 3-D.”

Ron Van Timmeren, vice president of programming at Celebration Cinema, said the evening “Avatar” screenings have been selling out consistently – at least one showtime every night since the movie opened.

“We hate to see it go,” he said.

Article >>

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FUEL TV Airs “The Making of Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D” Monday, February 8th

Airing Monday, February 8 at 8:00pm ET (5:00pm PT) in Meet & Brotatoes, and re-airing several more times over the next month, FUEL TV will showcase the “The Making of Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D.”

“The Making of The Ultimate Wave Tahiti” is an in-depth look at the first ever IMAX 3D surf film. Featuring nine-time world champion Kelly Slater, The Ultimate Wave Tahiti follows a quest to find the perfect wave-riding experience. Filmed in Tahiti and among the islands of French Polynesia, the film showcases dramatic giant screen surfing action in a unique Pacific paradise. This show will focus on intricacies of using such a complex camera, the challenges of weather in the tropics, and getting professional surfers to go surf when the conditions are less than ideal. See what happens behind the camera on such a monumental piece of surf film history.

“The Making of Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D” Air Dates:
Monday, 2/8/2010 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT
Monday, 2/8/2010 11:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM PT
Wednesday, 2/10/2010 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT
Thursday, 2/11/2010 9:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM PT
Saturday, 2/13/2010 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
Sunday, 2/14/2010 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT
Tuesday, 2/16/2010 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT
Friday, 2/19/2010 3:30 PM ET / 12:30 PM PT
Sunday, 2/21/2010 10:00 AM ET / 7:00 AM PT
Monday, 2/22/2010 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT

Press Release >>

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Avatar, IMAX doing well in international box office

Avatar is having box office success all over the world. Sofia News Agency is reporting James Cameron’s epic made BGN 4.4 million in Bulgaria:

In the seven weeks since its premiere in Bulgaria James Cameron’s Sci-fi epic Avatar has made BGN 4,4 M at the Bulgarian box office.

The film has been viewed by a total of 388 566 film fans in 22 cinemas, 21 in 3D format, and one on IMAX.

Sci-fi spectacular Avatar surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing movie of all time in late January, figures from distributor 20th Century Fox show. Avatar’s worldwide takings in just six weeks stood at USD 1.859 B, versus Titanic’s USD 1.843 B.

Avatar was nominated for 9 Oscar’s on Tuesday when the full list of nominations for the 82d annual Academy Awards was announced.

Source >>

UPDATE 1: Rapid TV News reports on other European markets doing well with Avatar and IMAX:

James Cameron’s 3D Avatar is a spectacular success around the planet, and is helping IMAX earn a few extra dollars.

Indeed, Avatar has brought in more than $150m in Imax theatres worldwide. During its seventh weekend, the film grossed $6.02 million from 179 Imax theatres domestically, representing approximately 21% of the film’s total domestic three-day weekend gross of $29.3 million on less than 2% of the screens. Internationally, the Imax release grossed $4.3 million from 83 Imax theatres, bringing the weekend’s global Imax total to approximately $10.5 million and the film’s overall Imax global total to more than $152.9 million. Out of the 262 Imax screens worldwide showing the film, 17 have already surpassed the $1 million mark.

The European numbers are also fascinating. The European Imax theatre network (29 screens) has grossed over $21 million (through Jan 31) with a per screen average of approximately $740,000. In the Netherlands the two Imax theatres have so far grossed more than $2 million. In Austria, their Imax screens have contributed 7.6% of the nationwide box office out of just 1.37% of the screens.

In France, the screen at Gaumont Disney Village has grossed $839,000 as of Feb 1, more than tripling its previous top record. To Russia, where the Nescafe Imax theatre in Moscow has already grossed over $2.225 million; while the Kinostar Imax screens in both Moscow and St. Petersburg have also passed the $1 million mark. The Imax screens in Russia have generated 5% of the total Russian box office on just 0.3% (less than a third of one per cent) of the screens.

In the United Kingdom, Imax screens in the UK average over $685,000 gross box office to date and the Odeon screens provide half the total, having already grossed more than $3 million. London’s BFI Imax screen has an occupancy rate of over 98% for the 168 shows from the initial release through to Jan 30, 2010 and the theatre has already grossed over $1.5 million.

Source >>

UPDATE 2: More on Avatar’s box office:

Alt Film Guide: AVATAR #1 ALL-TIME DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE (BUT NOT #1 RE: TICKETS SOLD)

LA Movie Examiner: ‘Avatar’ passes ‘Titanic’ domestic box office record

Box Office Mojo: ‘Avatar’ Claims Highest Gross of All Time

Houston News: Pop Rocks: Let’s Never Fight Again, James Cameron

Centre Daily Times: 3-D is helping brighten the picture for once-troubled Imax

The Birmingham News: $600 million, and I still haven’t seen ‘Avatar’

The Celebrity Cafe: ‘Avatar’ Helps Imax

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Avatar to come out on DVD, Blu-ray June 30

MarketSaw is reporting Avatar will be coming to DVD and Blu-ray June 30, but will not be in 3D. They also have a scoop on Avatar 2 news:

Our exclusive that James Cameron is under immense pressure to make Avatar 2 has been confirmed by News Corp head Rupert Murdoch himself.

On a quarterly earnings call, Murdoch said the conglomerate is having “very early talks about it”, Cameron “has ideas about it” and that they “will be pushing one.”

But he cautioned analysts not to “hold your breath for an early one.” This jives with the comment from our source that said it would be “within 4 years”

The DVD (and also the Blu-ray I presume) will be released by June 30. However, Murdoch stated that it would not be a 3D DVD release because that technology is not developed enough yet. News Corp president Chase Carey added that a 3D release could happen further “down the road.”

Article >>

UPDATE: And additional coverage on the home video release and sequel:

Fandango: ‘Avatar’: Sequel Talk, DVD News and More Records Broken

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UGO debuts exclusive new photo from Hubble 3D

UGO.com has posted an exclusive image from IMAX’s upcoming Hubble 3D.

Check it out here: Link >>

Vividly captured in IMAX 3D, Hubble 3D recounts the amazing journey of the most important scientific instrument since Galileo’s original telescope and the greatest success in space since the Moon Landing — the Hubble Space Telescope.

The film opens in IMAX theaters March 19, 2010.

UPDATE: Oh and if you haven’t heard, the film will be “awesome” so says Symmetry Breaking:

Symmetry Breaking: Confirmed: Hubble 3D will be awesome

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New Alice in Wonderland image, Anne Hathaway Q&A

Walt Disney Pictures has released a new image from Alice in Wonderland as well as a Q&A with star Anne Hathaway.

Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, the film follows a 19-year-old Alice who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl. The film opens in 3D and 2D in conventional and IMAX theaters March 5, 2010.

Q: Is this an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s books?

A: This is “Alice in Wonderland” 10 years later. The story isn’t the same. And in re-reading the book in preparation for the film, I noticed that a lot of it is Alice trying to figure out who she isn’t by process of elimination. She knows that she isn’t all the things that people are saying that she is, and so, by going through all of them, she gets a better idea of what she is. And in the Tim Burton “ALICE IN WONDERLAND,” Alice is trying to name who she is without using the process of elimination in a similar way. There’s a great line in it, where someone says, “You seem like Alice, but you’ve lost your muchness.” That’s my favorite line. So I think if the book is about Alice exploring her imagination, this one is about Alice finding her soul.

Q: Why have his books been enjoyed for generations?

A: In my opinion, what makes a great book is something that is universally specific. I didn’t read the “Alice” books when I was a child. I read them when I was in college. I was really into Nabokov, and apparently, he was really into Lewis Carroll, so I thought it was a good idea. So I read it from the perspective of a young woman becoming a woman—and I really related to it, the idea that you’re never the right size, that you could drink something to make you feel smaller, or eat something to make you feel bigger. I remember that it just appealed to me because I understood it. On the surface, it’s kind of light and fantastical, but it actually does play into a lot of deep, psychological fears we have—inadequacies that we feel we have, insecurities, the way we relate to the world around us. And in Wonderland, the world is hyper-emotional. It doesn’t make sense. People don’t make logical, emotional sense, and people feel things very, very grandly, and it’s just full of contrarians. So then, you have this young girl—who’s quite sensible, especially for a young girl—navigating her way through it. Sometimes, you feel like you’re the supporting cast of characters, the Wonderland crew, and then other times, you feel like you’re Alice. Like I said, when something is that universally specific—universal enough that it’s just a great, entertaining story, but specific enough that you can find yourself in it and relate to it at different points in your life—I think that could possibly explain why people keep going back to it.

Read the full Q&A over at /film: Link >>

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