Writer-director John Michael McDonagh and cinematographer Larry Smith, ASC, BSC faced a race against time in the face of a threatening global pandemic to capture the vibrant colors and contrasting scenes of the Moroccan landscape for the feature film The Forgiven, starring Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes, and Matt Smith.
The total revenues generated by the global cinema industry this year are set to only reach half of 2019’s pre-COVID revenues according to Omdia’s latest Cross Sector Windows report. Global box office revenues are still being impacted by studios experimenting with differing release windows, alternative platform distribution models such as video on demand, as well as government restrictions and more recently, a change in consumer confidence due to the Delta variant.
The Kinepolis Group is installing a MediaMation MX4D Theatre in its Leidschendam, Netherlands, location.
Leading Russian cinema operator Karo will open ten Karo: New Generation locations with developer ADG over the next 10 months, with the first to open on November 15. Another six locations are slated to open by the end of the year. The remaining Karo: New Generation multiplexes will open in Russian regional cities — in collaboration with other real estate partners — beginning in the second quarter of 2022, with further large-scale expansion planned through 2024.
MetaMedia, Howie Mandel’s Alevy Productions and Super 78 Studios are partnering to bring Magic Screen, the world’s first interactive platform for animated and live content, to cinemas and other out-of-home venues around the world.
VFX Legion delivered more than one hundred visual effects for director Rodo Savagues’ action thriller, Don’t Breathe 2, which was released theatrically August 13th. The franchise was born from the creative partnership of Savagues and Fede Alvare, the director of the highly successful first installment, Don’t Breathe, in 2016. Visual effects were key to bringing co-writers Savagues and Alvare’s vision of the sequel to life. Complex computer-generated sequences and digital shots were relied on to augment imagery captured on practical footage, elevating the visceral emotions elicited by the atmospheric thriller.
Adobe has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Frame.io’s cloud-based video collaboration platform. With more than a million users across media and entertainment companies, agencies, and global brands, Frame.io streamlines the video production process by enabling video editors and key project stakeholders to seamlessly collaborate using cloud-first workflows.
Rising Sun Pictures recreated huge swaths of Amazon rainforest with photo-real accuracy for Disney’s rollicking adventure film Jungle Cruise. The breathtaking jungle environments are used in several scenes in the film, which follows wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) and intrepid researcher Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) as they pilot a rickety river boat upstream in search of an ancient tree with miraculous healing powers. In all, the studio delivered 300 final visual effects shots.
The caper film The Sixth Reel tells the story of Jimmy, a New Yorker obsessed with old Hollywood, who is one of an extended community of discerning – and extremely catty – movie memorabilia collectors. When the death of a close friend unearths the long-lost final reel of a classic horror film, Jimmy and his cohorts each concoct underhanded schemes to cash in on a big sale of the film. The Sixth Reel was written and directed by Charles Busch and Carl Andress, and stars Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Margaret Cho, Tim Daly, and an ensemble cast of beloved Broadway veterans.
Classic Cinemas is a family-owned business, founded in 1978 and based in Downers Grove, Illinois. Today the Johnson family operates 15 locations and 130 screens. Many of those locations were acquired by Classic Cinemas in a state of disrepair and were meticulously restored to their original splendor while updating to the latest technology. The family belongs to several preservation societies, including the Theatre Historical Society. The company received the Landmark Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Stewardship in 2011. Their newest location, the Meadowview in Kankakee, Illinois, is a newly expanded seven screen movie theatre with luxury heated recliner seats, 7.1 surround sound, and 4K digital projection. The Meadowview expansion was supervised by TK Architects International, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. I recently spoke via email with TKA principal Theresa English about the challenges of renovating an older cinema. Here is our conversation:
