News : Cinemark premieres Imax rival at Century Park Place 20 - Inside Tucson Business - newspaper, business news, opinion, classifieds

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An “Extreme Digital Cinema” theater — think Imax — opened at Century Park Place 20 last week giving local moviegoers the market’s first large-screen format. Tucson is one of 14 cities, and the only one in Arizona, where Cinemark is introducing what it’s calling XD technology.

The theater, at 5870 E. Broadway in Park Place Mall, features a floor-to-ceiling, 72-foot wide screen and more than 30 speakers pumping customized digital surround sound. The standard seats also were replaced with 300 specially made leather chairs, part of an effort to create the “maximum comfort environment.”

“The Cinemark XD auditorium offers an environment that engages all of your senses and pulls you into the movie,” said Cinemark CEO Alan Stock.

Unlike Imax, movies shown in Cinemark XD don’t require reformatting for the super-screen allowing the theater to rotate screenings of multiple attractions for audiences. The Tucson theater opened at midnight Nov. 19 with the premiere of the vampire-drama “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” It will also screen “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” in 3D through the holiday season.

Ticket prices are an average of $3 per ticket higher for XD theater than in other theaters. A regular adult ticket costs $12 and child/senior tickets are $9 each. There’s another $2 charge for 3D showings.

The introduction of the new theaters has prompted a pair of lawsuits.

Reacting to a letter it received from Imax, Cinemark filed suit Nov. 3 in federal court in Texas asking for a declaration that it isn’t in violation of Imax patents by installing the XD technology.

On Nov. 12, Imax filed a lawsuit against Cinemark in New York State Supreme Court claiming breach of contract, fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets. The complaint"