IMAX Signs 10-Cinema China Deal

http://www.digitalcinemainfo.com/imax_01_11_08.php

IMAX Signs 10-Cinema China Deal

January 11, 2008 Source: IMAX

IMAX Corp. will install 10 of its giant-screen cinemas in China in its biggest sale in Asia to date in a deal announced Thursday amid a boom in Chinese moviegoing. The deal with China's Wanda Cinema Line Corp. includes seven screens using IMAX digital projection technology that is still in development, said IMAX, which is based in suburban Toronto. The price of the deal was not announced.

Investors are rushing to open new cinemas in China as incomes rise and more people go to the movies.

The country of 1.3 billion people has 3,900 screens.

Mainland box office revenues for 2007 are expected to total about $400 million, up 15 percent from 2006, according to industry estimates reported by state media.

The IMAX deal reflected the growing Chinese movie market outside the prosperous cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

The first two systems are to be installed in Changsha in the south and Changchun in the northeast, followed by Beijing and the eastern cities of Nanjing and Wuxi, IMAX said. It said other locations were under discussion.

Screens in the new cinemas will measure 44 1/2 by 72 1/2 feet, according to IMAX.