July 15, 2009--IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures have announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The IMAX 3D Experience is the widest IMAX international release ever, opening in conjunction with the film's general release commencing on July 15 in 62 IMAX theaters internationally. Domestically, the picture will launch Wednesday, July 15, in select IMAX theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago and expand shortly thereafter.
July 15, 2009--Seddon Bennington, CEO of New Zealand’s national museum, disappeared last weekend, along with a friend, after bad weather set in during a two-day bushwalk North of Wellington. Both were found dead by crews who sometimes had to push through waist-deep snow during the search. Bennington was director of the Carnegie Science Center and Rangos IMAX Theater in Pittsburgh from 1994 to 2003 before returning to his native New Zealand in 2003 to become director of the National Museum in Wellington. Bennington is survived by his wife, Frances, and two sons. More details from The Dominion Post can be found here.
July 10, 2009--Mysteries of the Great Lakes, a $6-million dollar, Canadian-made, giant screen film produced by Science North in 2008, continues to impress film festival judges, winning multiple awards in 2009.
July 8, 2009--K2 Communications has announced the following production updates for the upcoming films Legends of Flight, Ultimate Wave Tahiti, and Rescue.
July 6, 2009--IMAX Corporation has announced that the Paramount Pictures release Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The IMAX Experience, directed by Michael Bay and featuring scenes filmed with IMAX cameras, posted strong second weekend results, with an estimated $4.6 million coming from 169 IMAX theaters domestically during the three days from Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 5. The IMAX release contributed more than 10 percent of the film's $42.5 million weekend total on less than 2 percent of the screens. The film also generated approximately $1.4 million from IMAX theaters internationally, bringing the worldwide IMAX total to over $30 million in the first 12 days of release.
July 1, 2009--The Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) announced today the winners of its Annual International Marketing Awards. The awards celebrate the best execution of ideas in promoting giant screen films and theaters.
June 29, 2009--IMAX Corporation today announced that the Paramount Pictures release Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The IMAX Experience, directed by Michael Bay and featuring scenes filmed with IMAX cameras, posted exceptionally strong opening results, with an estimated $14.4 million coming from 169 IMAX theaters domestically, for a per screen average of over $85,000 during the five-day opening from Wednesday, June 24, through Sunday, June 28. The IMAX release contributed more than 7 percent of the film's $201 million total on less than 2 percent of the screens.
June 26, 2009—The Swiss Museum of Transport, Switzerland's most popular museum, currently attracts more than 820,000 visitors a year and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. With the "VHS 2009" investment project covering approximately 50 million Swiss francs, the management of the Swiss Museum of Transport launched and completed what might well be a record-breaking new building and attraction-enhancing program with a long-term impact on both the premises and content of the museum.
June 25, 2009--IMAX Corporation today announced the appointment of Gary Moss to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer, effective July 20, 2009. Based in Toronto, Mr. Moss will be primarily responsible for overseeing the company's operations, leading and assisting the organization as it executes the company's business strategy, refining performance management systems, and focusing on the integrated operation of all business units. Mr. Moss will report directly to Richard L. Gelfond, IMAX's Chief Executive Officer.
June 25, 2009--The summer meeting of EUROMAX on June 14-15, 2009, was hosted by the Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Tycho Brahe Planetarium is situated in Copenhagen’s city center and is Denmark's most advanced center for popularizing astronomy and space research and promoting knowledge of natural science. Beyond the presentation of new giant screen product the focus of the meeting and sessions was on digital technology.