V FOR VENDETTA: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE debuted with impressive box office results this past weekend. The digitally re-mastered IMAX DMR release of V FOR VENDETTA from Warner Bros. Pictures opened in 56 North American IMAX theatres, grossing an estimated $1.36 million during the three-day period between March 17 and March 19 for a per-screen average of $24,341.
OPEN SEASON, the first 3D-animated feature from Sony Pictures Ent., will open in IMAX 3-D simultaneously with the conventional release on Sept. 29. Sony Pictures Releasing will be the exclusive distributor of movie to IMAX theaters worldwide.
OPEN SEASON is directed by Roger Allers (THE LION KING), Jill Culton (who worked on Disney/Pixars MONSTERS, INC. and TOY STORY 2) and co-director Anthony Stacchi (whose credits include ANTZ).
OPEN SEASON stars the vocal talents of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing and Gary Sinise.
THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3-D EXPERIENCE passed $60 million, making it the highest grossing IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) release to date, IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures reported. Showing on 83 screens worldwide, the film passed $15 million in its second season, when it was re-released the same day as the film's DVD launch on Nov. 23, 2005.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures will release V FOR VENDETTA, the action-adventure from the creators of THE MATRIX trilogy, simultaneously to IMAX and conventional theaters on March 17, 2006. Produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers, directed by James McTeigue and starring Natalie Portman, V FOR VENDETTA will be digitally re-mastered through IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to IMAX theaters worldwide. It features vfx from Cinesite (Europe) and Double Negative.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2-D release. With total grosses of more than $16 million on 89 IMAX screens worldwide, it passes the record set by BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, which grossed $15.9 million last year.
DEEP SEA 3-D, the new documentary from IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures, will be co-narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winselt and will feature an original score from Danny Elfman (CORPSE BRIDE and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY). This marks the first doc to boast the actors voices and the first original IMAX production to be scored by the award-winning composer.
THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3-D EXPERIENCE, now in its second holiday season, has reached another box office milestone, surpassing $50 million at the box office since it premiered last November. The digitally re-mastered holiday classic was re-released Nov. 23 in IMAX theaters, simultaneous with its DVD launch, and has continuously been among the top 20-grossing films in North America. In its third weekend, from Dec. 9-11, the film registered an impressive 12th-place ranking on the charts, grossing $931,603 on just 66 screens.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE and THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3-D EXPERIENCE registered the highest grossing weekend ever at IMAX theaters, with combined grosses of $3.1 million, each on 66 screens over the three-day period from Nov. 25-27.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE shattered every record for an IMAX Hollywood simultaneous release. In its debut at 66 North American IMAX theaters, the film posted the biggest three-day opening ever, beating the previous record by more than 30%, with an estimated $2.93 million over the period ended Nov. 20, for a per-screen average of more than $44,000.
When Warner Bros. Pictures releases HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE on Nov. 18, it will debut in a record 72 IMAX theaters, with an additional 18 to open in the coming weeks. This will eclipse the mark set by CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE this past summer.
Of the 72 IMAX theaters opening day and date, 66 of the locations are domestic, which is significantly more than the 49 domestic IMAX screens that HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE opened in June 2004.
POSEIDON and SUPERMAN RETURNS are the latest Warner Bros. tentpole pictures to get the large format IMAX treatment. Wolfgang Petersens remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (with vfx from ILM and MPC) will be released May 12, 2006, on both conventional and IMAX screens. Bryan Singers SUPERMAN RETURNS (with vfx from Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm + Hues, The Orphanage and Rising Sun Pictures, among others) follows the same release pattern on June 30, 2006.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that HAPPY FEET, the animated musical comedy about a tap-dancing Emperor Penguin and his adventures in the Antarctic, will be released domestically in IMAX 3D simultaneous with the film's 2D premiere in conventional theaters on Nov. 17, 2006. The film is directed by George Miller (the BABE films and the MAD MAX trilogy), with an all-star ensemble cast, featuring the voices of Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman and Brittany Murphy.
MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: WALKING ON THE MOON 3D, a Playtone/IMAX 3D space film, presented and narrated by Tom Hanks, will feature an all-star voice cast of top Hollywood talent, including Paul Newman, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, John Travolta, Gary Sinise and Bill Paxton. It opens exclusively in IMAX theaters starting Sept. 23.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2D release, reaching the milestone in less than nine weeks. With total grosses of $14.5 million on 72 worldwide IMAX screens, it eclipses the record set by THE MATRIX RELOADED: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, which grossed a little more than $14 million in 22 weeks. For the three-day period from Aug. 12 to Aug.
IMAX Corp., in association with Warner Bros. Pictures, Playtone Prods., its principals Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman and John A. Davis of DNA Prods., announced that THE ANT BULLY will be released simultaneously in IMAX 3D and conventional 2D format on Aug. 4, 2006. The film will be digitally converted into IMAX 3D and feature proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The picture marks Playtone's third IMAX film project and Warner Bros. Pictures 10th film commitment to IMAX. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of THE ANT BULLY to IMAX theaters worldwide.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE opened to record business this past weekend, reports IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures. The film debuted in a record 65 North American IMAX theaters the widest domestic IMAX opening to date grossing an estimated record of $2.21M over the three-day period ended July 17, for a per screen average of more than $34,000. In addition, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE also set single day box office records with the biggest opening day, Saturday and Sunday for an IMAX digitally re-mastered release.
BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE continued to post impressive box office results over the holiday weekend, according to IMAX and Warner Bros., grossing approximately $1.45 million on 55 North American IMAX screens from July 1-4, 2005. The film has shown strong legs since debuting in IMAX theaters, setting numerous records for a Hollywood simultaneous release, including best seven-day opening and fastest grossing 2D IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) title.
IMAX saw its biggest five-day opening ever with last weekends estimated $3.16M debut of BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE. The opening day gross of approximately $754,000 proved to be an IMAX record as well for a Hollywood simultaneous release.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE, the highest grossing and most successful IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) release to date, will return to IMAX theatres in November 2005. First released on Nov. 10, 2004, and co-financed by Shangri-La Ent., the film broke virtually every box-office record for a digitally re-mastered Hollywood film in IMAX's format, and set the record for the highest grossing week in IMAX's 35-year history.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theatres on November 18, 2005. The film is based on the best-selling J.K. Rowling book and is the fourth installment of the tremendously successful HARRY POTTER film series, which has grossed a total of more than $2.6 billion around the world. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be digitally re-mastered into IMAX's format through the company's IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology and released to the worldwide IMAX theatre network.
Bill Desowitz looks at the reemergence of 3D with big pushes by IMAX and George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Robert Rodriguez and Peter Jackson.
On its way to posting $36M in its opening weekend last week, Fox/Blue Skys 3D-animated ROBOTS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE took in a strong $1.4M in only 58 North American IMAX theaters. ROBOTS, marks the first spring day-and-date DMR (Digital Remastering) release for IMAX after the hugely successful 3D IMAX presentation of POLAR EXPRESS, which pulled in more than $45M domestically.
IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that BATMAN BEGINS will be simultaneously released to IMAX and conventional 35mm theatres on June 17, 2005. The film, which explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham, will be digitally re-mastered into the IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology for the IMAX release. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of BATMAN BEGINS to IMAX theatres worldwide.
Warner Bros. Pictures' THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE has achieved a box office milestone, surpassing $40 million in total gross receipts in just 11 weeks of release. Already the highest grossing IMAX DMR (Digitally Re-mastered) release to date, having shattered the previous record of $14 million in just 22 weeks, the film continues to fill IMAX theaters well after the end of the holiday season.
Warner Bros. Pictures' THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE again set new records for an IMAX film by amassing more than $5.45 million from Dec. 26 through Jan.1, making it the highest grossing week in IMAX's history.
