April 30, 2010--The Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) requests proposals from individuals/consultants to help the Association launch its newly adopted giant screen “Bigger. Bolder. Better.” marketing initiative. The initiative will use a series of tools, including a tag phrase and certification program, to help giant screen theaters differentiate themselves from other theaters and entertainment options.
April 30, 2010--From SK Films: It is with great sadness that Jonathan Barker announces that SK Films Director, Co-founder, shareholder, and friend Robert Kerr passed away yesterday in Toronto. He was 80 years old. Robert was of course well known to many in the giant screen industry, having been a co-founder and long-time CEO of IMAX Corporation and having dedicated so much of his energy, intelligence, patience, resourcefulness, wit, and wisdom to the creation and success of IMAX Corporation and the IMAX brand. We were deeply honoured that, following the sale of his interest in IMAX Corporation, Robert chose to co-create SK Films to continue to have a presence in the giant screen world he contributed so much to creating. His commitment to quality and integrity stand as touchstones for the industry and certainly for us at SK. Robert was the quintessential gentleman, with a deep passion for both art and science. He was an exceptional person and was our champion. He will be deeply missed.
April 29, 2010--IMAX Corporation today reported adjusted EBITDA (as defined by the Company's credit facility) of $42.0 million and $93.4 million for the first quarter and last twelve months ended March 31, 2010, respectively, compared to $7.0 million and $15.1 million for the first quarter and last twelve months ended March 31, 2009, respectively. Total revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 increased 120% to $72.8 million, a record for a single quarter for the Company, compared to total revenue of $33.1 million in the same period last year.
April 28, 2010--A unique combination of filmmaking glamour, sexy beach action, big wave legends, Hollywood myths, and iconic California pop culture kitsch, MacGillivray Freeman’s new feature documentary Hollywood Don’t Surf! has been officially selected to premiere as a sneak preview at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. A comedic romp examining 50 years of Hollywood surfing films—with a tight focus on the overly ambitious production and near-disastrous release of John Milius’ 1978 Big Wednesday—Hollywood Don’t Surf! celebrates the culturally significant, remarkably enduring and always hilarious relationship between Hollywood and surfing.
April 28, 2010--IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc., announced today that they have completed an agreement to release up to 20 Warner Bros. films in IMAX's format over the course of the next three and a half years (from 2010 through 2013). The agreement strategically aligns Warner Bros.' tent-pole business with the increasing worldwide popularity of The IMAX Experience in both 2D and IMAX 3D, providing the studio with an added distribution platform that consistently delivers strong box office returns. The agreement underscores the excitement around the studio's future films, which are anticipated to be among the best Hollywood event titles slated for release in the coming years.
April 26, 2010--IMAX Corporation today announced that industry veteran Mark Zoradi will begin working for the company as a non-executive strategic advisor effective April 12, 2010. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Zoradi will be available to advise on key issues in all areas of the company, including film acquisition, distribution and marketing, as well as studio and exhibitor relationships.
April 22, 2010--IMAX Corporation and Larry H. Miller (LHM) Megaplex Theatres, the leading commercial theater operator in Utah, today announced that they have reached an agreement to add two new digital IMAX theaters in the Salt Lake City, UT, area and change their existing film-based IMAX theater system in Sandy, UT, to IMAX digital. The agreement builds on the box office success of Hollywood films in IMAX and the strong performance of the existing IMAX theater that is owned and operated by LHM Megaplex Theatres in Sandy, UT.
April 21, 2010--IMAX Corporation today announced that Zhejiang Xinyuan Cultural Industry Group Co., Ltd, a large government-run cultural enterprise in the People's Republic of China, has signed an agreement to install a digital IMAX theater system at the exhibitor's new 16-screen multiplex in the city of Hangzhou, the capital of China's Zhejiang province. The theater is scheduled to open in late June 2010, in time to show Aftershock, the first mainstream Chinese film to be digitally re-mastered into The IMAX Experience. There are currently 26 IMAX theaters open in China, and this deal brings the total number of IMAX theaters scheduled to be open in China to 50 by 2012. The city of Hangzhou is approximately two-hours driving distance from Shanghai.
April 21, 2010--The International 3D Society is now accepting nominations for its Stereoscopic 3D Technology Awards to be held October 5, 2010, at 7pm at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The 3D Technology Awards honor technological achievement in the stereoscopic medium--mainly cinema, television, special venue, themed attractions, video games, PC, and other media. The Society announced today that it is accepting entries from the 3D professional community to be voted upon by a blue-ribbon 3D Technology Awards panel.
April 19, 2010--IMAX Corporation and Tokyu Recreation, the owner of 109 Cinemas (10 is "To" and 9 is "kyu"), today announced a new joint venture agreement to install five digital IMAX theater systems in Japan. The agreement builds on the success of IMAX's current joint venture partnership with the exhibitor, which includes four IMAX theaters that were installed in 2009. Those existing IMAX screens have posted consistently strong box office performance with Hollywood IMAX releases, including Twentieth Century Fox's Avatar, which grossed $8 million on the four Tokyu IMAX screens. For the release of Avatar, the 109 Cinemas IMAX location in Kawasaki ranked as Japan's highest-grossing screen. The three other Tokyu IMAX screens in Nagoya, Minoh, and Shobu have shown significant improvements on their national rankings since their IMAX systems were installed. Disney's Alice in Wonderland opened on Saturday in Japan, setting a new Japanese IMAX box office record, with the four Tokyu IMAX screens generating a total of $335,882 in only two days.