Growth in Asia Varies Country by Country

http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003679846

Source: Film Journal

Nov. 30, 2007 DIGITAL REVOLUTION by Bill Mead Digital cinema in the Asia-Pacific region continues to expand on a country-by-country basis, with an interesting mix of distribution infrastructures ranging from locally created e-cinema networks up to full DCI-specified 2K networks. Unlike the U.S.—or even the European markets—progress in Asia varies by country depending much on the status of the domestic cinema industry and the local popularity of Hollywood content. Missing so far in Asia are the pan-regional third-party providers who provide financing, integration, and distributor-provided conversion incentives. Companies like North America’s AccessIT and Technicolor and Europe’s XDC and Arts Alliance Media have yet to emerge in the Asian market. The driving factors in the Asian rollout tend to be local exhibitors themselves who want to get ahead of the curve, the equipment vendors who are trying to jump-start business, and in the case of China, government incentives. In China, digital-cinema deployment is being supported by the China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), the Chinese state-owned company which is leading the Chinese film industry. CFGC got off to a roaring start in 2002 with initial purchases of pre-DCI MPEG-based equipment with 1.3K projection technology. China deployed 100 of these systems in major market cinemas that typically play Western content. As Hollywood standards began to evolve, CFGC took a wait-and-see attitude to further investments and remained largely quiet on further large-scale d-cinema deployment. Instead, CFGC moved forward by deploying a large number of e-cinema systems using standard three-chip DLP projectors and GDC servers in theatres that play domestic content, while keeping a close eye on evolving d-cinema standards. In 2007 China renewed its commitment to install 2K DCI-compliant systems in large numbers. Both Belgium-based projector manufacturer Barco and the Singapore-based server manufacturer GDC Technology (GDC) have been the driving forces in the recent China rollout. In spring of 2007, GDC and Barco jointly announced a deal with Chinese exhibitors for 700 units coordinated through CFGC. Following on this announcement, GDC announced that CFGC, working with Shenzhen-based Institute of Digital Media Technology (Shenzhen IDMT), will install 2,000 of its DCI-2000 integrated systems in Chinese theatres by the end of 2008. The GDC DCI-2000 combines a GDC SA-2100 server and a Barco DP-2000 projector into one easy-to-deploy package. As of December 2007, approximately 300 of these systems have been installed in China. GDC has also been busy installing its Total Digital Cinema Solution in various Chinese cinemas such as the Golden Harvest Shenzhen. This package includes equipment for d-cinema, onscreen advertising and in-lobby advertising, along with a central management system to control these systems. Korea is leading the world in installation as a percentage of existing screens, with approximately 185 of its 1,700 screens equipped. Unlike China, the cinemas in South Korea didn’t begin seriously converting until DCI and 2K projection became the norm. Both Barco and Christie have established strong positions with dealer and exhibitor alliances. Initially QuVIS had the dominant server position, followed closely by GDC. Recently, Doremi has focused its sales and support in the Korean market and to date has installed approximately 50 servers. Christie has recently taken the lead in projector sales with approximately 100 installations to date. The rollout in Korea is largely being driven by competition among the major exhibition groups. Exhibitors CJ Entertainment, The Lotte Group and Megabox, along with numerous independents, are all in competition to provide tech-savvy Korean cinemagoers the best possible experience. The Megabox COEX Cineplex in Seoul was the world’s first all-digital multiplex, with all 16 screens equipped with Barco projectors in the summer of 2005. Digital 3D has also been a huge hit with Korean moviegoers, with 11 of the Lotte screens being equipped with Real D’s stereoscopic system. NEC, also a manufacturer of DLP Cinema 2K projectors, has recently renewed its focus on the Korean market with the appointment of Hyosung ITX Co. Ltd. as a sales partner. NEC also has a sales relationship in the Hong Kong market with Strong Westrex, a subsidiary of Ballantyne of Omaha and a leading supplier of cinema equipment for the region. NEC is actively expanding its sales and support throughout Asia in anticipation of strong demand for 2008. The digital rollout in Taiwan is moving slowly ahead, with approximately 10 digital screens in operation. Sales are being driven by individual titles, particularly those in digital 3D. For the November 2007 release of Beowulf 3D, Ambassador Theatres will install one Dolby 3D system at their Xinmen Ding site and add one more Dolby server at its Global Mall site. Over the next year, Ambassador is planning to install three more digital screens. Also for Beowulf 3D, GDC Technology will be installing two of its SA-2100 servers along with Christie projectors in Cinemark’s Core Pacific multiplex. Much like Taiwan, Thailand has nine d-cinema screens in operation and is adding as needed to play specific titles. Thailand’s leading integrator, Goldenduck Group, has been responsible for overseeing recent installations with SF Cinema, who recently added two additional installations using Barco projectors and Dolby servers with 3D enhancements. In Japan, T-Joy continues to lead the conversion with approximately 30 of Japan’s 70 equipped screens. Earlier this year, T-Joy installed nine NEC NC2500S projectors at its flagship Shinjuku Wald 9, making it the first fully digital complex in Japan, and later T-Joy installed three more NEC projectors at their Nagaoka multiplex. Dolby has been particularly active in the Japanese market with the installation of 19 of its servers and is working with T-Joy to install Dolby 3D Digital Cinema systems in a number of their multiplexes across Japan. In addition, Imagica, one of the largest motion picture film laboratories in Japan, has been equipped to generate DCI-specified files and has installed the Dolby SCC2000 mastering system. Sony is said to have seven Japanese theatres equipped with its 4K SXRD projection technology on a trial basis. Doremi has also established a footprint in the Japanese market with 10 recent server installations in several Shochiku and Tokyu cinemas. India has been a solid e-cinema market, with many flavors of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 based systems being deployed around the country. In the north, the UFO Moviez network has installed over 500 e-cinema systems in cinemas playing Indian-produced titles. In the south, Chennai-based Qube System has been actively deploying e-cinema networks for several large Indian exhibitors including E-City, Pyramid Group, Cinemeta, and others. Although starting with e-cinema, Qube is expecting to upgrade many of these to fully compliant DCI systems in 2008. Recently, Sathyam Cinemas installed six Qube XP-D servers with Barco DP-100 projectors in all six of its screens at its flagship multiplex in Chennai and is planning to expand to over 100 screens throughout southern India, all with DCI-level 2K equipment and Qube servers in 2008. Working with Qube, 200 of the top independent Indian exhibitors plan on upgrading their existing e-cinema equipment to d-cinema beginning in early 2008. With the size and potential of the Indian market, it is no surprise that many other equipment venders are looking at India with eager anticipation. Dolby Laboratories has an agreement in place with a major Indian service provider to install a Dolby SCC2000 Secure Content Creator for local content creation and mastering. In addition, the agreement includes over 250 Dolby Digital Cinema servers to be installed over the next few years to provide a DCI-compliant screen base for Hollywood movies in India. In Australia and New Zealand, d-cinema literally means 3D, as all of the 21 digital screens in the region are 3D-enabled, most equipped with Barco projectors and Kodak servers. Kodak Australia is Real D’s exclusive agent for Australia and New Zealand and has been responsible for the large majority of digital systems deployed in the area. Building on their success with the ACOS pre-show delivery system, Kodak has been deploying their JMN3000 server with the Kodak Theatre Management System (TMS). This TMS provides exhibitors with centralized control over the systems while also being watched over by the Kodak service and support team from Kodak’s central network operations locations. So far, digital conversions down under have been driven by specific titles. Hoyts and Reading Cinemas have added several new installations for the November 2007 release of Beowulf 3D. Several larger screens, the Cineplex Victoria Point in Queensland and Hoyts’ Sylvia Park in New Zealand, are set up with dual-projector 3D to achieve higher brightness on the wider screens. Australia’s Atlab Image & Sound Technology has been doing much of the system integration working with Kodak, Dolby, Christie and other vendors. In 2007, both China and South Korea made significant progress with the conversion of their exhibition industries to digital. In China, the growth can be attributed to strong governmental support for programs to modernize their cinema industry. In South Korea, the progress was primarily the result of fierce competition among several vertically integrated—and therefore well-financed—cinema circuits. In the smaller markets and with the independent exhibitors, however, the economics of the digital deployments remain a challenge. With no clear emerging regional deployment plan providing studio incentives to convert, installations are on a screen-by-screen basis and being driven primarily by a few titles available in 3D. Regardless of studio incentives and deployment plans, d-cinema installations will certainly heat up in 2008, as there are many more 3D titles in the production pipeline. Whether 3D exhibition is a novelty—or becomes part of mainstream cinema for the foreseeable future—the increased box-office results make the exhibitor’s conversion a more local, immediate and understandable business decision.

Stereoscopic Smackdown, Part II

By Annlee Ellingson

November 28, 2007 9:16 AM Permalink Comments (0)

Now playing in both Imax and digital 3D, Beowulf offers an opportunity for format comparison

To quote Jeff Corwin again: The things I do for you guys. Like for The Da Vinci Code, which I saw not once but twice to compare and contrast digital in 2K and 4K, I’ve also seen Beowulf twice now, and, like with Da Vinci, I didn’t like it much the first time.

(Actually, as a side note, I’m experiencing an interesting phenomenon in which I like Beowulf more in retrospect than during the actual viewing. I didn’t enjoy the film while I watched it the first time but then recalled it fondly—until I watched it a second time, during which I also didn’t enjoy it. I think I like the movie itself but not the animation, which is distracting during but forgettable afterward. Anyone else experiencing the same effect?)

Anyway, why am I putting myself through this (with apologies to those of you who did enjoy Beowulf upon its first and perhaps subsequent viewings)? This time, as it’s the first film to play in both, I’m comparing and contrasting its presentations in Imax and digital 3D.

I attempted this same experiment a little over a year ago, watching The Ant Bully in Imax 3D and Monster House in Real D’s digital 3D back-to-back. By the end of the afternoon, my eyeballs hurt. Not from the stereoscopic viewings themselves—today’s technology is actually quite comfortable—but from sheer volume. This time out, although there are some venues such as AMC’s Citywalk Stadium in Universal City, that offer both, I let a few days pass between viewings.

The results for Beowulf were much the same: With Imax 3D’s linearly polarized passive glasses, you can’t tilt your head without the image separating into its respective left- and right-eye parts, and ghosting was sometimes apparent. It was difficult to keep track of the faster moving elements during action scenes, and any flaws that film has—such specks of dirt in the gate—are magnified on the giant screen.

Dolby’s Digital 3D system, in its first foray into the commercial market, offered a rock-solid presentation in which the action was more defined and easier to follow, but, on a smaller screen, the viewing experience was more like looking in a window rather than being immersed in the picture. The effect of an object protruding out of the screen at the audience simply lost its magic as soon as it reached the edge of the screen. Moreover, with glasses designed to block one’s peripheral vision, the eyewear create a sense of tunnel vision.

In effectively immersive 3D, the frame extends beyond the moviegoer’s peripheral vision, a situation best achieved by Imax, which is designed to position audiences close up to its giants screens. Perhaps Imax’s digital solution, due to roll out sometime next year, will offer the best of both worlds.

If we’re counting box office receipts, 3D itself is the clear winner, contributing 40 percent of the film’s $27.5 million opening-weekend ticket sales from 20 percent of theatres. But among all stereoscopic screenings, Imax’s giant-screen format accounted for 13 percent of receipts from 84 screens—or 32.5 percent of the 3D box office from less than 10 percent of 3D engagements.

http://boxoffice.com/blogs/annlee-ellingson/2007/11/stereoscopic-smackdown-part-ii.php

SENSIO Signs a First Contract for the Integration of its Technology into a 3D TV

"SENSIO Technologies, the inventor of the SENSIO 3D technology, announces that its technology will be integrated for the very first time into a 3D television intended for the consumer market. “We are extremely pleased with this milestone agreement we just reached with Kerner Optical Research and Development (“KORD”). The signature of this first contract falls within the timeline we had set and is the result of our efforts aimed at integrating our technology into a mass consumption device”, explains Nicholas Routhier, President and CEO. This recently entered into agreement will allow KORD to integrate the SENSIO 3D technology into the new LCD HD SpectronIQ television, as well as the JVC 2D to 3D real-time conversion technology, for which SENSIO obtained a license in October 2006. The new television is currently being developed as per a contract between KORD and SpectronIQ. This agreement follows the Letter of Intent announced last June, which expressed KORD’s interest for the SENSIO 3D technology. This first commercial success will generate recurring incomes for SENSIO, as the contract provides for a base amount, as well as royalties on every unit sold."

http://fullres.blogspot.com/

Disney Brings 3-D Thunder to 'Bolt'

By Staff Nov 27, 2007, 21:07

"We are going to have fun family 3-D at Thanksgiving," Disney president of domestic distribution Chuck Viane said. "We absolutely believe in the whole concept of 3-D and the enhancement that it brings in the ability to separate us from any of the other mediums." "Bolt" is the latest digital 3-D announcement from Disney, which has been a pioneer of the format. The company's digital 3-D releases have included "Chicken Little," "Meet the Robinsons" and "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas." Burton also recently signed a two-picture deal with Disney through which he will direct and produce 3-D features of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and Burton's short "Frankenweenie." Disney next releases in 3-D the "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour," which will play in theaters Feb. 1-7. The "Hannah Montana" release should be available on about 700 screens. "By the time we get to 'Bolt,' I think you may be looking at somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 potential 3-D screens (domestically)," Viane said. "That would be terrific." John Travolta and Susie Essman lead the voice cast of "Bolt," the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (Travolta) who is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York, where he begins a cross-country journey through the real world. Chris Williams directs." By Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter

http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/digitalcinemamag/articles/article_16669.shtml

Thomson Signs Agreements with Three North American Exhibitors to Provide Digital Cinema Projection Systems

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071127005626&newsLang=en

Source: Businesswire

November 27, 2007 08:03 AM Eastern Time

Technicolor Digital Cinema Adds Clearview Cinemas, iPic Entertainment, and Cinemaworld to its North American Deployment

PARIS & BURBANK, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thomson (Paris:18453) (NYSE:TMS), through its Technicolor Digital Cinema business, has signed agreements with Clearview Cinemas, iPic Entertainment and Cinemaworld to install digital projection systems as part of its North American digital cinema equipment deployment.

“We’re proud to have been selected by these premier exhibitors to bring digital cinema technology to their audiences,” said Curt Behlmer, executive vice president of Technicolor Theatrical Services and COO of Technicolor Digital Cinema.

Clearview Cinemas is a Chatham, New Jersey-based exhibitor that operates 50 theatres with 254 screens, 246 of which are in the New York DMA, the country’s largest metropolitan market. Clearview also owns and operates New York City’s legendary Ziegfeld Theatre, one of the country’s most famous movie palaces and the location of countless movie premieres and red-carpet events.

“Clearview Cinemas is thrilled about working with Technicolor to further deploy digital Cinema in our circuit and to bring our customers all of the benefits of this pioneering technology,” said Doug Oines, senior vice president and general manager of Clearview Cinemas.

IPic Entertainment, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a new company founded by Hamid Hashemi, former president and CEO of Muvico Theatres. With its first location set to open in the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin on December 7, iPic’s innovative entertainment complexes will include luxury movie theatres, an upscale bowling venue, a restaurant and bar, and an auditorium for live events. iPic has additional locations currently under development in Texas, Illinois, Ohio, California and Florida.

“Digital Cinema is the future of movie exhibition, and we are excited to be on the cutting-edge working with Technicolor so that our guests can experience movies with the highest quality image and sound possible,” said Hamid Hashemi, president and CEO of IPic Entertainment. “We’re also excited about the innovative new programming options that this technology enables, such as 3-D and live events.”

Vero Beach, Florida-based Cinemaworld operates 32 state-of-the-art, all-stadium screens in Florida and Rhode Island, and plans to expand into two new markets beginning in early 2008. Cinemaworld’s West Melborne, Florida site has been a test bed for Technicolor’s prototype digital systems since 2002.

“Cinemaworld’s partnership with Technicolor has positioned us as the technology leader in the markets we serve. Our customers now demand to see films presented in Technicolor Digital Cinema,” stated Jim Deal, director of operations, Cinemaworld.

Each theatre installation will feature Technicolor’s fully integrated networked systems, which include a satellite system for content delivery and the Technicolor Theatre Management System. The Technicolor Theatre Management System is a software solution that enables exhibitors to control theatre automation and manage all content such as trailers, advertisements, and features with simple drop and drag technology. The digital cinema systems will be supported by Technicolor’s maintenance services with 24/7 remote monitoring to ensure system health.

Technicolor Digital Cinema has installed digital cinema systems with several prominent exhibitors in North America and Europe including ArcLight Cinema Company, Mann Theatres, National Amusements, Wehrenberg Theatres, Zyacorp’s Cinemagic Stadium Theatres, and Kinepolis Group in Belgium.

Thomson intends to complete the first phase rollout of digital projection systems in up to 5,000 screens over the next three to four years, with 15,000 screens in the United States and Canada over the next 10 years.

All hardware and software placed in each site will conform to industry-standard specifications published by Digital Cinema Initiatives LLC (DCI). Furthermore, the Technicolor Digital Cinema plan is technology agnostic, enabling both exhibitors and studios to benefit from the best available technology, including both 2K and 4K projection.

As previously announced, Thomson has signed digital cinema equipment usage agreements with DreamWorks SKG, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. to support its plans for the distribution of digital cinema content and systems throughout North America. Under the separate, long-term accords, each of these studios has agreed to distribute content digitally throughout the United States and Canada, and pay a virtual print fee to Thomson for screens equipped with Technicolor Digital Cinema systems, which began in late 2006.

About Thomson – Leader In Digital Video Technologies

Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides technology, services, and systems and equipment to help its Media & Entertainment clients – content creators, content distributors, and users of its technology – realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly-changing technology environment. The Group is the preferred partner to the media and entertainment Industries through its Technicolor, Grass Valley, RCA, and Thomson brands. For more information: http://www.thomson.net.

About Technicolor Digital Cinema

Since its inception in 1999, Technicolor Digital Cinema has been a pioneer in the enabling and advancement of digital cinema initiatives. By actively working side-by-side with key digital cinema stakeholders as a technology enabler and service provider, Technicolor Digital Cinema is utilizing its breadth and depth of valuable industry knowledge and expertise to develop solutions for technologies and standards that will ultimately facilitate the global commercialization of digital cinema. Headquartered in Burbank, California, Technicolor Digital Cinema offers the most comprehensive set of digital cinema services and solutions, including compression, encryption, key management, secure distribution, storage, scheduling and playback, and maintenance and support. Additionally, the division works closely with film studios to support current digital cinema releases. Technicolor Digital Cinema is an operating unit of Technicolor Theatrical Services, part of the Services division of Thomson. Since 2000, Technicolor Digital Cinema has mastered and distributed over 250 motion pictures to date, both domestic and internationally, for every major studio. For more information: http://www.technicolordigitalcinema.com. Contacts

Thomson

Season Skuro (U.S.), +1-818-260-4528

season.skuro@thomson.net

or

Steve Bauer (U.S.), +1-818-260-4520

steve.bauer@thomson.net

or

Martine Esquirou (Europe), +33 1 41 86 58 51

martine.esquirou@thomson.net

Disney Brings 3-D Thunder to 'Bolt'

By Staff Nov 27, 2007, 21:07

"We are going to have fun family 3-D at Thanksgiving," Disney president of domestic distribution Chuck Viane said. "We absolutely believe in the whole concept of 3-D and the enhancement that it brings in the ability to separate us from any of the other mediums." "Bolt" is the latest digital 3-D announcement from Disney, which has been a pioneer of the format. The company's digital 3-D releases have included "Chicken Little," "Meet the Robinsons" and "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas." Burton also recently signed a two-picture deal with Disney through which he will direct and produce 3-D features of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and Burton's short "Frankenweenie." Disney next releases in 3-D the "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour," which will play in theaters Feb. 1-7. The "Hannah Montana" release should be available on about 700 screens. "By the time we get to 'Bolt,' I think you may be looking at somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 potential 3-D screens (domestically)," Viane said. "That would be terrific." John Travolta and Susie Essman lead the voice cast of "Bolt," the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (Travolta) who is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York, where he begins a cross-country journey through the real world. Chris Williams directs." By Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter
© Copyright 2003 by United Entertainment Media, Inc.

http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/digitalcinemamag/articles/article_16669.shtml

JVC Joins the 4K Projection Club

November 26, 2007 Source: N.E.R.D

If you've been tuned into Digital Cinema Projection for the past couple of years, you'd know that when it comes to 4K projection (4Kx2K image), sony's SXRD series was pretty much the only game in town. DLP is limited to 2K and most of the projectors out there (Christie, Barco, NEC) are all 2K projectors. A downside of Sony's projector is that although it is as hefty as a small car it only has a 2000:1 contrast ratio (measured less than that calibrated). Its rated aggresively for 40ft screens which is not nearly big enough for true cinema applications. That was true until JVC announced their 1.27-inch 4Kx2K D-ILA (Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier) chip at InfoComm 2007. The chip can produce a 4096x2400 pixel image with a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. That's nearly 10x the contrast ratio of the Sony behemoth.

Major Specifications:

Device size 1.27-inch diagonal No. of pixels H x V 4096 x 2400 pixels Pixel pitch 6.8 µm Gap between pixels 0.25 µm Aperture ratio 93% Device contrast ratio 20,000:1 Response time (tr+tf) 4.5 ms LC mode Vertical Aligned LC LC alignment film Light stabilized inorganic alignment film

The DLA-SH4K, which packs the 4k D-ILA chip, touts a 4,096 x 2,400 resolution, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 3,500 lumens, a dual-link DVI input, multiscreen mode, an Ethernet port for remote operation and RS-232 / USB connectors. It measures 660 x 827 x 340 mm and is slated for launch in the first half of 2008.

http://www.digitalcinemainfo.com/jvcprofessional_11_26_07.php

3D movies rise again - After many a false dawn, 3D may now become the next big thing in cinema

From The Sunday Times

November 25, 2007

Dominic Rushe in New York

LAST WEEKEND Beowulf, the epic poem written 1,000 years ago and dreaded by schoolchildren ever since, became an unlikely box-office smash.

Dropping old English alliterative verse for high-tech animation and Angelina Jolie, Beowulf proved an unstoppable blockbuster, pulling in $27.5m (£13.3m) in its opening weekend in America, and £2.2m in Britain. Aside from Penguin Classics, the biggest winner from Beowulf’s triumph may have been 3D cinema.

Hollywood has toyed with 3D since 1915 with varying degrees of failure. Until recently 3D has been a novelty act, inserted in a last-ditch attempt to squeeze one more film out of a dying franchise: remember Jaws 3D – The Third Dimension Is Terror?

But modern techniques have done away with the cardboard-framed red-and-green glasses, and 3D films are becoming ever more popular with Hollywood, where a number of studios and top directors have now released full-length 3D features or are working on them.

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To date the company with the most experience in showing 3D films is Imax, a Canadian company with a franchise in large-format movies shown on special 80ft-high screens.

Beowulf in 3D at the BFI Imax in London took £60,000 in its opening weekend. The film was playing at 83 Imax venues in America and accounted for 13% of Beowulf’s business on just 1% of the screens.

As Hollywood struggles with the digital age, home rentals and ever-bigger TV screens, Beowulf’s 3D success may provide some clues about how they can fill tomorrow’s multiplexes.

It has been a good year for Imax, said Richard Gelfond, the company’s co-chief executive. Accounting problems took their toll on the firm last year, but this year Imax has had strong showings for big-screen blockbusters, including Transformers, Spider-man 3, Harry Potter and 300.

In order to achieve Imax’s crisp images on huge screens, films have to be converted to a special large-format film. It costs about $30,000 to make a single print of an Imax movie, compared with $1,000 for a normal film, so in order to recoup the money, the film has to have a longer run.

“It’s all about content,” said Gelfond. With big-production movies often failing at the box office, the wrong choice can be very costly. The same holds true for 3D.

“My Dinner with Andre is not going to be a great 3D property,” said Gelfond. But for the right sort of film, Imax and 3D are a big draw. “The Imax audience is almost completely incremental. It’s people who go to the theatre for a second time for a different experience.”

Most of the big Hollywood films shown on Imax have not been 3D (the last Harry Potter movie had a short 3D section at the end) but Gelfond expects more and more movies to enter the third dimension in the next few years.

Titanic director James Cameron is working on a 3D movie called Avatar. The film is being seen as a potential turning point for 3D, and Cameron seems confident that he is going to pull it off with his latest sci-fi project. He recently told the Hollywood Reporter: “We’re going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre in a way you haven’t seen for a long time.”

Cameron has been a long-time champion of 3D and believes it can save cinemas from the effects of home rentals and new technologies.

“I’m not going to make movies for people to watch on their cell phones,” he said last year. “To me, that’s an abomination.”

Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks, has said the new developments in 3D have “the opportunity to be the most important innovation in film since the use of colour in motion pictures”.

DreamWorks has recently signed a three-picture deal with Imax for 3D animation movies Monsters vs Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon, which are both due out in 2009, and 2010’s Shrek Goes Forth.

Film heavyweights such as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have also become enthusiastic converts, teaming up to create a 3D trilogy based on The Adventures of Tintin.

“In 2D there are now so many ways to see a movie,” said Gelfond. Cinemas compete with DVD, pay-per-view, iPod down-loads and television, and the gap between a film’s cinematic release and its wider distribution is getting smaller, he said.

Using cinema’s advantages can help turn the tide. “300 [the animated film about 300 Spartans battling the might of the Persian empire] did $25m in Imax and $210m in America, so we had more than 10% of the box office.”

It’s a statistic he said that showed people still wanted to go to the cinema but that they were now much more demanding.

Imax will not have the field to itself, however. Its competitor Real D now has more than 1,000 3D screens, including 21 in Europe, and Dolby, a new entrant, is expanding its 3D screens across the world.

Film studios are helping to finance the roll-out of digital projectors, making 3D cheaper for cinema chains – installing an Imax system costs about $250,000. In order to increase its reach, Imax, too, is going digital and will begin rolling out its new, and cheaper, technology next year.

Last week Gelfond said Imax still had the lead in 3D. “In America we did four times the business per screen that our competitors did.” But the competition is good for business, he said. The more screens become available, “the more studios will produce content for 3D and the more people will become more aware of the attractions of 3D movies”.

The digitisation of 3D movies will also give film makers far greater flexibility in the sorts of film they can make. The old system was clunky and inflexible. The new digital 3D systems hold out the possibility of live 3D.

“I dream that we’ll be able to do live action – the World Cup in Imax 3D,” said Gelfond.

He foresees a day when people go to the cinema to see concerts, sports and current events on giant screens in 3D. It’s a role that cinema has not played since the rise of television.

“People have been writing off the movies for decades,” said Gelfond. “TV would kill the movies. Home rentals would kill the movies. It hasn’t happened. There’s no question that the nature of the game is changing but I think that with the evolution of technologies like 3D the industry will be there to meet the challenge.”

· Have your say

It would seem what the cinema offers is aready realised in the home. (22inch 3d monitors offering near 1080p resolution)http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=331&code=032 Though obviously the scale is no where near that of 3d animations zooming around a cinema hall.

Kieran, St Andrews,

Took my 14 yr old and his three buddies for a birthday treat to see Beowulf at the IMAX in London. It was great and really worth the effort. I totally concur in the view in showing that the experience is different and bigger than even just a big screen at a local cinema can give. With home projectors, large LCD or Plasma TV's you need something else to draw the people out of their homes.

Nicholas Fraser, Hatfield, UK

o Have your say

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article2935759.ece

IMAX Signs Four Picture Deal With Dreamworks Animation

By Neal Romanek Nov 15, 2007, 06:13

IMAX Corporation and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. today announced an agreement to release the studio’s first three 3D motion pictures worldwide in IMAX® 3D. The IMAX 3D releases will include Monsters vs. Aliens in March 2009, How to Train Your Dragon in November 2009 and Shrek Goes Forth in May 2010. A fourth DreamWorks Animation title, Kung Fu Panda, will be released in IMAX’s 2D format in June 2008. The IMAX 3D titles are expected to be among the first presented with IMAX’s digital 3D projection system, which is scheduled to be launched beginning June 2008. This is IMAX’s first multiple 3D picture deal with a Hollywood studio. The 3D titles also will be simultaneously released to conventional digital 3D theatres. Paramount Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the pictures. “3D cinema has an opportunity to revolutionize the way people experience movies,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. “We believe the immersive quality of IMAX will provide our audiences with a unique way to experience our films and we are delighted to include IMAX as a key part of our 3D strategy.” “DreamWorks Animation envisions 3D as the future of CGI animation, and we are excited to help them implement their approach to delivering outstanding content in the years ahead," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "Further, we are so pleased that the timing of the roll-out of our digital projection technology can take advantage of DreamWorks Animation’s 3D content – content that will look, sound and feel amazing when it is presented in IMAX.” “DreamWorks Animation’s creative spirit is well suited for IMAX 3D and we are delighted to be collaborating with their talented team to bring moviegoers a premium 3D cinematic experience,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “DreamWorks Animation consistently produces and markets films that appeal to adults and kids alike and these films will certainly play an important role in maintaining a well-rounded IMAX film slate over the next several years.” All four films will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. DreamWorks Animation SKG is devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation. Utilizing world-class creative talent and state-of-the-art technological capabilities, the company is committed to making two computer-animated feature films a year that appeal to a broad movie-going audience. The Company has theatrically released a total of fifteen animated feature films, including Antz, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shark Tale, Madagascar, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, Shrek the Third and Bee Movie. Please visit www.dreamworksanimation.com to learn more. IMAX Corporation is one of the world’s leading digital entertainment and technology companies. The worldwide IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event Hollywood films around the globe, with IMAX theatres delivering the world’s best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR technology. IMAX DMR is the Company’s groundbreaking digital remastering technology that allows it to digitally transform virtually any conventional motion picture into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. IMAX’s renowned projectors and new digital systems display crystal-clear images on the world’s biggest screens. The IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences for consumers. As of September 30, 2007, there were 296 IMAX theatres operating in 40 countries.
© Copyright 2003 by United Entertainment Media, Inc.

http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/digitalcinemamag/articles/article_16632.shtml

3D movies rise again

From The Sunday Times

November 25, 2007

After many a false dawn, 3D may now become the next big thing in cinema

Dominic Rushe in New York

LAST WEEKEND Beowulf, the epic poem written 1,000 years ago and dreaded by schoolchildren ever since, became an unlikely box-office smash.

Dropping old English alliterative verse for high-tech animation and Angelina Jolie, Beowulf proved an unstoppable blockbuster, pulling in $27.5m (£13.3m) in its opening weekend in America, and £2.2m in Britain. Aside from Penguin Classics, the biggest winner from Beowulf’s triumph may have been 3D cinema.

Hollywood has toyed with 3D since 1915 with varying degrees of failure. Until recently 3D has been a novelty act, inserted in a last-ditch attempt to squeeze one more film out of a dying franchise: remember Jaws 3D – The Third Dimension Is Terror?

But modern techniques have done away with the cardboard-framed red-and-green glasses, and 3D films are becoming ever more popular with Hollywood, where a number of studios and top directors have now released full-length 3D features or are working on them.

To date the company with the most experience in showing 3D films is Imax, a Canadian company with a franchise in large-format movies shown on special 80ft-high screens.

Beowulf in 3D at the BFI Imax in London took £60,000 in its opening weekend. The film was playing at 83 Imax venues in America and accounted for 13% of Beowulf’s business on just 1% of the screens.

As Hollywood struggles with the digital age, home rentals and ever-bigger TV screens, Beowulf’s 3D success may provide some clues about how they can fill tomorrow’s multiplexes.

It has been a good year for Imax, said Richard Gelfond, the company’s co-chief executive. Accounting problems took their toll on the firm last year, but this year Imax has had strong showings for big-screen blockbusters, including Transformers, Spider-man 3, Harry Potter and 300.

In order to achieve Imax’s crisp images on huge screens, films have to be converted to a special large-format film. It costs about $30,000 to make a single print of an Imax movie, compared with $1,000 for a normal film, so in order to recoup the money, the film has to have a longer run.

“It’s all about content,” said Gelfond. With big-production movies often failing at the box office, the wrong choice can be very costly. The same holds true for 3D.

“My Dinner with Andre is not going to be a great 3D property,” said Gelfond. But for the right sort of film, Imax and 3D are a big draw. “The Imax audience is almost completely incremental. It’s people who go to the theatre for a second time for a different experience.”

Most of the big Hollywood films shown on Imax have not been 3D (the last Harry Potter movie had a short 3D section at the end) but Gelfond expects more and more movies to enter the third dimension in the next few years.

Titanic director James Cameron is working on a 3D movie called Avatar. The film is being seen as a potential turning point for 3D, and Cameron seems confident that he is going to pull it off with his latest sci-fi project. He recently told the Hollywood Reporter: “We’re going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre in a way you haven’t seen for a long time.”

Cameron has been a long-time champion of 3D and believes it can save cinemas from the effects of home rentals and new technologies.

“I’m not going to make movies for people to watch on their cell phones,” he said last year. “To me, that’s an abomination.”

Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks, has said the new developments in 3D have “the opportunity to be the most important innovation in film since the use of colour in motion pictures”.

DreamWorks has recently signed a three-picture deal with Imax for 3D animation movies Monsters vs Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon, which are both due out in 2009, and 2010’s Shrek Goes Forth.

Film heavyweights such as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have also become enthusiastic converts, teaming up to create a 3D trilogy based on The Adventures of Tintin.

“In 2D there are now so many ways to see a movie,” said Gelfond. Cinemas compete with DVD, pay-per-view, iPod down-loads and television, and the gap between a film’s cinematic release and its wider distribution is getting smaller, he said.

Using cinema’s advantages can help turn the tide. “300 [the animated film about 300 Spartans battling the might of the Persian empire] did $25m in Imax and $210m in America, so we had more than 10% of the box office.”

It’s a statistic he said that showed people still wanted to go to the cinema but that they were now much more demanding.

Imax will not have the field to itself, however. Its competitor Real D now has more than 1,000 3D screens, including 21 in Europe, and Dolby, a new entrant, is expanding its 3D screens across the world.

Film studios are helping to finance the roll-out of digital projectors, making 3D cheaper for cinema chains – installing an Imax system costs about $250,000. In order to increase its reach, Imax, too, is going digital and will begin rolling out its new, and cheaper, technology next year.

Last week Gelfond said Imax still had the lead in 3D. “In America we did four times the business per screen that our competitors did.” But the competition is good for business, he said. The more screens become available, “the more studios will produce content for 3D and the more people will become more aware of the attractions of 3D movies”.

The digitisation of 3D movies will also give film makers far greater flexibility in the sorts of film they can make. The old system was clunky and inflexible. The new digital 3D systems hold out the possibility of live 3D.

“I dream that we’ll be able to do live action – the World Cup in Imax 3D,” said Gelfond.

He foresees a day when people go to the cinema to see concerts, sports and current events on giant screens in 3D. It’s a role that cinema has not played since the rise of television.

“People have been writing off the movies for decades,” said Gelfond. “TV would kill the movies. Home rentals would kill the movies. It hasn’t happened. There’s no question that the nature of the game is changing but I think that with the evolution of technologies like 3D the industry will be there to meet the challenge.”

· Have your say

It would seem what the cinema offers is aready realised in the home. (22inch 3d monitors offering near 1080p resolution)http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=331&code=032 Though obviously the scale is no where near that of 3d animations zooming around a cinema hall.

Kieran, St Andrews,

Took my 14 yr old and his three buddies for a birthday treat to see Beowulf at the IMAX in London. It was great and really worth the effort. I totally concur in the view in showing that the experience is different and bigger than even just a big screen at a local cinema can give. With home projectors, large LCD or Plasma TV's you need something else to draw the people out of their homes.

Nicholas Fraser, Hatfield, UK

·

o Have your say

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article2935759.ece

Box office: data - Digital cinema - Continental d-drift?

23 Nov 2007

The decision of French cinema chain Circuit George Raymond to sign a virtual print fee agreement for sharing the cost of digital cinema with Arts Alliance Media represents a significant step in the evolution of d-cinema in Europe.

With its 400 screens, Circuit George Raymond (CGR) is the first significant exhibitor to sign up to a scheme announced by Arts Alliance Media (AAM) earlier this year. However, it remains to be seen whether this will prove a tipping point in the development of digital cinema in Europe.

AAM announced its plans at CinemaExpo in Amsterdam having already signed up Universal Pictures International and Twentieth Century Fox to the most developed model for sharing costs between distributors and exhibitors - the virtual print fee (VPF). Paramount Pictures International added its support recently.

A model agreement?

The VPF model has been proven in North America, with more than 3,700 digital screens installed to date, but many exhibitors elsewhere have been reluctant to sign up.

Bigger European exhibitors are also keen to see if they can strike a better deal than the one on the table, which some believe compares unfavourably with what is on offer in the US. Smaller exhibitors in Europe have been looking at other business models. They are sceptical that d-cinema will yield the savings on print costs that have been widely heralded, particularly given the insistence of the now largely accepted digital cinema initiatives (DCI) standard on a minimum 2k projection quality.

At the weekend's EuropaCinema conference in Bucharest, many independent theatre owners were still clamouring for another debate on standards and new proposals on business models. Most accept that d-cinema itself is now a fait accompli, but few were convinced the VPF business model was a good deal. In a vote at the conference, 25% of exhibitors said they expected smaller theatres to go out of business.

The CGR deal is therefore a welcome break for the advocates of DCI. It is also timely, given the studios have shown signs of losing patience with the stalling in Europe. Julian Levin, executive vice-president digital exhibition, Fox Entertainment, said he understood the issues around VPF but warned there was a limit to the patience of studios for arguments that had led to what he called "organised chaos".

"What's changed in the last 12 months is that people now know something has to happen," says John Graham, general secretary of the European Digital Cinema Forum.

The AAM deal with CGR will not make sense for everyone, he suggests. Some smaller chains are already discussing a go-it-alone strategy in which they will not be tied into exclusive deals with distributors.

Everyone, however, will be spurred by the announcement into taking a serious look at their plans and timetable, says Graham. "It will give impetus to the discussion and push things forward a lot. Everyone now is anxious not to be left behind."

More announcements from major chains are expected over the coming months.

Plans for a network

CGR's rollout will start in early 2008, with 200 screens to be completed by the end of the first year. Under the pact, AAM will create a fully DCI-compliant digital cinema network within CGR. AAM will procure, service and maintain the systems, including projectors, servers and a theatre management system.

AAM's CEO Howard Kiedaisch said: "This agreement is an epic milestone for the industry, for AAM and for audiences Europe-wide. CGR is clearly a visionary leader in the European exhibition community and it is seizing the enormous opportunities that digital cinema offers to strengthen and sustain its business, as well as to revolutionise the movie-going experience."

Jocelyn Bouyssy, CEO of CGR Cinemas, added: "We're delighted to be the first movers in the digital transition and to enter a new era of French and European cinema."

http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=36007&strSearch=vpf&strCallingPage=ScreenDailySearchSite.aspx

Who shows the best view of 3D 'Beowulf'?

November 21, 2007 4:00 AM PST

Posted by Stephen Shankland

The race for the best 3D movie projection technology began in earnest last week with the release of Beowulf, and I'm here to judge the first lap.

Beowulf, which recounts the Anglo-Saxon adventures of a Swedish prince of that name, is the first wide release of a 3D movie, showing on hundreds of screens in 3D. And for the first time, viewers had the choice not only of watching with Imax 3D and Real D projection technology, but also newcomer Dolby 3D.

Based on watching the movie start to finish three times, the 3D winner is Dolby 3D--and not just by a nose.

Dolby's technology gave a sharp image that showed every beard bristle, the colors were relatively rich, flicker from moving objects was nonexistent, but most significantly, the sense of depth was strong. Even the subtle differences between a character's facial features were perceptible, and group shots with a host of characters showed as true depth, not as a number of gradually more distant two-dimensional layers. I was truly impressed.

Before I go further, a qualifier. Three viewings of this movie was a lot to endure, given the comic-book-grade plot and cardboard characters, but it's not much as statistical samples go to judge projection technology.

It's hard to say how much of my experience was based on the underlying merits of the technology and how much on the particulars of the theater and viewing. But the Dolby 3D experience was significantly better enough that I'm comfortable awarding it the crown.

Compare and contrast All three 3D technologies were compelling, but none was perfect.

My first viewing was with Imax 3D, which was displayed on the company's famously large screens.

Of the three, Imax 3D was the most in-your-face experience of 3D effects, with swords, castle spires and spear points jutting sharply out of the screen. The company deliberately adjusts movie perspective to achieve this effect.

"When you experience 3D with us, you experience the 3D at the bridge of your nose. It is an immersive, full-contact experience," said Greg Foster, Imax's chairman and president of filmed entertainment. And he's right.

However, I was distracted many times during the movie by "ghosting," in which some of the light intended for the right eye leaks into the left and vice-versa. In high-contrast moments, such as a brightly glowing, gold drinking horn held against a dark cave wall, the result is dim secondary copies of elements of the scene.

More disappointing, though, was my befuddled perception of some high-motion 3D scenes. I often found it hard to track objects and people during fight scenes with rapidly moving objects and a whirling camera perspective, for example.

So when I went to my second viewing, in Real D, I was favorably impressed. It wasn't as crisply focused or immersive as Imax 3D, but there wasn't as much ghosting, and I had much better luck keeping track of the fast-moving scenes. For example, in one early scene where King Hrothgar flings gold coins at his subjects, I actually saw coins rather than distracting gold flashes.

Instead of occupying most of my field of vision, the action seemed to take place in a box on a stage in front of the audience. And most of the action was "behind" the front of the screen.

The Real D audience seemed more wowed than Imax 3D viewers. Despite the more understated 3D, I observed a lot more flinching and startled gasping among audience members than in the Imax show.

Dolby 3D, though, beat out Real D for clarity, color, and coherent 3D. I was looking hard for ghosting and found it only twice, once with a sword and once with Grendel's mother's snaking tail. Many scenes that hadn't worked before came together--one example being the flying gravel pushed by Beowulf's ship as it's towed up the beach--and I found myself relishing the depth of flying dragons and other subjects. Falling snow, driving rain, and blowing embers imparted a feeling of space, not mere distractions.

That said, I still had problems. Not once was I able to make sense of the clouds of sand billowing around an underwater dragon or the froth of bubbles seen in the lair of the monster Grendel and his mother. A chain moving through a pulley knocked me cross-eyed. I also had troubles with foreground objects such as cave stalactites or characters half off-screen.

3D movies: The future Beowulf is set in Denmark during the sixth century, the darkest of the Dark Ages, but watching it is a view into the future of movie making. I was impressed by various clips, but now having seen what a director with forethought can do with the technology and what it adds to the movie itself, it's clear to me 3D isn't just the flash in the pan it has been in the past.

For me, the 3D movie experience ranged from remarkable to gimmicky, but at no time did I find that it had faded unobtrusively into the background. No doubt part of that is because it's a spectacle that movie makers are using to pack theaters and charge premium prices.

The three 3D technologies all share a common principle: alternate rapidly between two slightly different vantage points, one for the left eye and one for the right, so human brains in the audience can reconstruct the third dimension just as they do in the real world. To keep left-eye light out of the right eye and vice-versa, the audience wears special glasses; the cheap cardboard hand-outs with red and blue plastic lenses are long gone.

There are differences, of course, in the projection technologies. Imax 3D, with about 120 3D screens installed so far, uses the oldest approach--two separate but synchronized reels of film and polarized light to split the views--though it will start going digital in 2008. Real D, whose technology is on more than 1,000 screens, uses a digital projector passed through a device that polarizes light one way and another for each eye.

Dolby 3D, which just entered production and so far is only on 75 screens, uses filtering technology so that the left and right eyes see images composed of slightly different hues of red, green, and blue. That approach caused problems for me seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas, in which elements of even red were hard to look at because the right-eye channel was significantly more orange.

Beowulf's computer-generated images are based on the real movements of actors digitized with motion-capture systems. Although I can't stand the characters' resulting rubbery features and robotic hands, the technique is a good foundation for 3D movies.

With the in-computer virtual "filming," the camera's perspective can shift gradually or dramatically, taking the audience with it. With computer-generated movies, those radical perspectives are nothing new, but 3D adds a new element. For example, when the still-unseen monster Grendel shatters open the door of Heorat, King Hrothgar's mead hall, the camera slowly moves to the front of the hall, and the sense of dread is all the greater as the vantage point approaches the entrance where we expect a vile demon.

The movie, however, seemed adapted for the constraints of 3D display. One problem, for example, is that 3D movies are significantly dimmer, in part because each eye is effectively seeing black half the time and because necessary filters cut down light even more. In what was likely not a coincidence, Beowulf seems to take place entirely during the dark days of northern-latitude winter and is set mostly in wanly illuminated halls and caves.

Overall, though, the experience was engaging, even the third time around. And I recommend checking the movie out in whatever 3D format you can find. Imax's Foster makes a compelling point about the merits of 3D. And even though I'm not a big movie buff, I agree.

"What's happening is a lot of 15- to 30-year-old people were staying home, watching movies on 72-inch plasma screens and not going to the movies the way I was going when I was a 15-year-old," Foster said. "We need technologies to get them to realize they can't replicate the movie-going experience (found) in a movie theater."

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9821709-39.html?tag=st.rbp

European cinemas back single digital standard

Screen International correspondents in London 21 Nov 2006 06:30 The development of digital cinema in Europe took a significant step forward with the conference of the influential Europa Cinemas network of independent theatres reaching a consensus on a single global standard. "We can now say that there's total agreement that digital cinema and digital distribution worldwide should only have one standard," said Anders Geersten, Director of Distribution at the Danish Film Institute, who chaired the discussion on the subject at the Europa Cinemas annual conference in Paris.

There has been hot debate over recent years among European exhibitors and independent distributors about whether the DCI standard - which governs areas like interoperability and security standards - was suitable for the European market and the demands for cultural diversity.

Some had been demanding a separate standard for the continent but it seems the arguments are close to resolution.

"We can say that the war on standards is over," said Geersten, who is also Head of the Commercial Module of the European Digital Cinema Forum.

Delegates in Paris heard a number of speakers say that smaller exhibitors and distributors would have most lose if the industry shifted from one standard - 35mm - to a set of competing standards.

"The only people who would benefit from multiple standards are those who have the resources to deal with three, four or five formats," said Peter Buckingham, head of distribution at the UK Film Council. "For the smaller players, it would be a nightmare and I cannot see how that would benefit diversity,"

Claude Eric Poiroux, director general of the Europa Cinemas network said he believed the benefits of digital were now much clearer to exhibitors.

He even suggested that the quality of picture now offered on a 2K projector were now superior to 35mm for many films.

"This is going to mean a better life for all of us?it can only enhance the circulation of films."

Supporting a single standard makes way for a new phase of debate which may prove even more complex - the establishment of business models, in which the benefits of savings from digital cinema are fairly shared. Consensus seems highly unlikely in Europe. The so-called virtual print fee (vpf) model looks set to succed in the US but Europe is a far more fragmented market and there are fears that the US model would lead to smaller cinema closures and a loss of diversity.

http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=29677&strSearc h=vpf&strCallingPage=ScreenDailySearchSite.aspx

EUROPEAN EXHIBITOR CGR CINÉMAS SELECTS CHRISTIE DLP CINEMA PROJECTION SYSTEMS FOR AAM ROLLOUT - Circuit Converts 400 Screens to Digital Cinema in France

WOKINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM-Nov 21, 2007

Christie, a leading provider of visual solutions for business, entertainment and industry, today announced that the company’s CP2000 series of 2K DLP Cinema® Digital Cinema Projectors has been chosen by Circuit George Raymond (“CGR Cinémas”), one of France’s largest cinema chains as part of an exclusive Virtual Print Fee (VPF) based agreement with Arts Alliance Media (“AAM”), Europe’s leading provider of digital distribution services, for the deployment of Digital Cinema in 100% of the circuit’s 400 screens. This agreement sees CGR Cinémas become the first European exhibitor to convert completely to Digital Cinema exhibition. CGR Cinémas chose Christie out of the brands evaluated and selected by AAM, the rollout entity who procured the complete Digital Cinema system, both the hardware and software elements. Doremi Cinema LLC have been chosen to provide Digital Cinema servers and French cinema integration and services company Cine Digital Service will provide local installation and support services. The rollout is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2008, with a target of 200 screens during the first year. Eight screens will be equipped in December this year, so that CGR Cinémas’ customers can enjoy the benefits of 3D Digital Cinema screenings during the Christmas holidays. CGR Cinémas is a leading and expanding cinema chain in France. The company is well known for the success of its multiplexes in many mid-size cities across the country, for the efficiency of its cost management and for its profitability. By becoming the first European cinema chain to adopt the VPF business model and go fully digital, CGR Cinémas is demonstrating that it is an innovative company, ready to embrace new technology to deliver the best possible quality cinema experience. CGR Cinémas is the first European exhibitor to sign up to a VPF-based rollout. The VPF business model is a means of financing the conversion to Digital Cinema, where both distributor and exhibitor contribute over time towards the total cost of the digital projection and server equipment, funded up front by the rollout entity (Arts Alliance Media). The VPF model has been proven in North America, with over 4,320 digital screens installed to date, all using Christie’s Digital Cinema projection systems. “We are delighted to be the first movers in the digital transition and to enter into a new era of French and European cinema,” said Jocelyn Bouyssy, Directeur General of CGR Cinémas. “CGR Cinémas is a forward thinking company and its ability to seize new opportunities makes it one of the most successful chains in the French exhibition market. I would like to thank Gwendal Auffret and AAM’s technical team, the staff at CGR Cinémas, as well as the suppliers and installers for their innovation, creativity, skills and efficiency. This teamwork made such a historical agreement possible and now CGR Cinémas will embark on the great adventure of Digital Cinema in every screen in our circuit.” Christie’s Vice President for EMEA Dale Miller said “This is another momentous step in the advance of Digital Cinema, one that would not be possible without the passion and commitment CGR Cinémas has shown to giving its customers the best possible movie-going experience.” Richard Nye, Christie’s Senior Market Development Manager for Cinema in EMEA added “We are delighted to be part of the CGR Cinémas deployment team and to have the opportunity to work again with Arts Alliance Media following the earlier successes of the UK Film Council’s digital screen 240 screen network, completed earlier this year”. This agreement will see the number of theatres equipped with Christie DLP Cinema Digital Cinema projectors break-through the 1,000 milestone in the EMEA region alone; and will add to the over 4,320 installations of Christie’s CP Series Digital Cinema projection systems that account for over 85% of digital theatres installed in the world today.

http://www.dcinematoday.com/dc/pr.aspx?newsID=949

Upcoming 3D Movie Release Schedule

Upcoming 3D Movie Release Schedule

Posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm by: Peter Sciretta

At least 5,000 3-D systems expected to be in place by 2009. DreamWorks Animation’s Jeffrey Katzenberg expects there to be 12 to 18 3D feature films by 2010. 3-D is clearly the future of cinema, at least for the near future. With the recent announcements of Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland/Frankenweenie, and today’s announcement of Final Destination 4 in 3D, we’ve decided to compile a schedule for the upcoming 3D movie releases. Enjoy!

2008:

January 25th 2008: U2 3D: Performances from seven different shows of U2’s Latin America Vertigo Tour in early 2006. Previews of this film have tested incredibly well.

February 15th 2008: Fly Me to the Moon: A computer animated tale of three young houseflies stow away aboard the Apollo 11 flight to the moon. Tim Curry, Nicollette Sheridan, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Patrick and Kelly Ripa voice characters.

July 11th 2008: Journey 3-D: Visual effects supervisor turned director Eric Brevig’s take on the classic Jules Verne novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson star.

October 2008: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Disney has said they plan to rerelease the film around Halloween as long as it remains profitable.

Final Destination 4: Final Destination 2 director David R. Ellis returns to the franchise. Interestingly enough, Final Destination 3 was in development under the working title Final Destination 3-D, but the produces ultimately chose not to produce the movie in 3D due to costs and complications. This film might be pushed to 2009.

2009:

March 27th 2009: Monsters vs. Aliens: A reinvention of the classic ‘50s monster movie. Directed by Rob Letterman (Shark Tale). May 22nd 2009: James Cameron’s Avatar: A band of humans are pitted in a battle against a distant planet’s indigenous population. Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi star. $190 million budget.

October 2009: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Disney has said they plan to rerelease the film around Halloween as long as it remains profitable.

November 6th 2009: A Christmas Carol: Has not been publicly confirmed as a 3D release, but the film will use the same performance capture technique Robert Zemeckis also used in Polar Express and Beowuld. The classic retelling will star Jim Carrey as Scrooge and the three ghosts. Tom Hanks, Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Hoskins are also rumored to be on board the project. November 20th 2009: How to Train Your Dragon: Based on the 2003 children’s novel by British author Cressida Cowell, about the adventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III - The teenage son of a Viking chieftain, who must capture a dragon for a rite of passage.

Crood Awakening: A comedy set in the stone age directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch)

TinTin: Directed by Peter Jackson or Steven Spielberg. The adventures of popular Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/11/20/upcoming-3d-movie-release-schedule/