European Growth - Cinema City International Goes Digital and 3D

http://www.digitalcinemareport.com/node/223
Submitted by Nick Dager on Wed, 08/13/2008 - 15:54.
Cinema City International is equipping its theatres with 3D digital cinema technology from Dolby and Kinoton. The company has ordered 50 Kinoton DCP 30 digital cinema projectors with integrated Dolby 3D system, several of which have already been installed in Israel, Poland and Hungary. Further installations are scheduled for the Cinema City multiplexes in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Israel.

Cinema City International’s decision to offer their audience the digital 3D cinema experience should have an impact on the European cinema industry as a whole because the company is the largest multiplex theatre operator in Central and Eastern Europe, and in Israel. As of July 2008, Cinema City operates 62 multiplexes with 563 screens and 113 000 seats.

Kinoton has already installed 15 of the 50 D-Cinema projectors ordered. The others are to follow in fast succession. At the Yes Planet theatre in Ramat-Gan, Israel, three of the 15 auditoriums now are suitable for stereoscopic digital projection. The Yes Planet in Haifa, with 23 screens the biggest multiplex in Israel, was equipped with four digital cinema projectors. Both multiplexes have exhibited the digital version of the Disney/Pixar production Wall-E already, and successfully started 3D projection with Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.

The 23-screen megaplex Cinema City Arena in Budapest, Hungary is the largest cinema in Central Europe, with 23 screens and seating for 3,800 moviegoers. Now it offers four digital screens, which premiered with Wall-E. The digital installations at the Cinema City Arkadia in Warsaw (Poland) are currently in progress; soon three of its 15 auditoriums will offer 3D.

For Moshe “Mooky” Greidinger, CEO of Cinema City International, the decision on the supplier of the digital cinema technology was an easy one. “We have been working with Kinoton for many years already and together we have reached over 500 screens in six territories,” he says. “Our experience all these years showed us that first, we can be sure that when buying "a Kinoton" we get a product that we can trust and use for many years and second, that behind the products there is a professional team that will always be there if we need them. When operating this amount of screens, this is very important. For us it was also very important that Kinoton has been a leading company in the cinema market for many years. Going digital is a long process and we wanted to do that with the team that we know and trust.”

“We are honored that Cinema City International, one of our most important long-term customers, has not only decided in favor of our digital cinema projectors, but also relies on our expertise in digital technology and projection. This is the proof that we have successfully expanded our competence in cinema technology to the digital sector without making any compromises regarding our high quality standards,” says Christoph Dobler, managing director of Kinoton.