Star Wars: The Force Awakens has put up record-breaking box office numbers for 4DX globally. Only two weeks into its run, the film has been seen by more than one million moviegoers in 4DX, surpassing the success of Jurassic World in 4DX, which previously reached one million moviegoers in three weeks. In America, Asia and Africa, Star Wars has broken records for the highest occupancy rate for a 4DX film.
4DX’s partnership with NOS, the leading cinema operator in Portugal, will bring the very first 4DX auditorium to Southern Europe with auditoriums in Porto and Lisbon. Both 4DX theaters are scheduled to open in the first half of this year.
CJ 4DPlex opened twelve new 4DX theaters in its fastest-growing market, Japan, in December. The new screens involved partnerships with five different cinema exhibitors: Aeon Cinemas, United Cinemas, 109 Cinemas, US Cinemas, Korona World.
ScreenX, one of the world’s first multi-projection systems that allow theatergoers to go beyond the frame of the movie screen by extending the images onto the theater walls, is making its official U.S. premiere on January 1. The first public availability of ScreenX in the U.S. will be rolled out at CGV Cinemas Los Angeles. Fans will have the opportunity to screen The Himalayas, the film that is topping Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the South Korean box office.
MediaMation has been commissioned to produce a 132-seat MX4D Motion EFX Theatre for Reel Cinemas in The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest and most-visited retail and entertainment destination. The Reel Cinemas project is scheduled for installation this month. Middle Eastern systems integrator Scrabble is handling the installation.
Barco and China Film Group have announced the installation of Asia’s first multi-screen, panoramic Barco Escape movie theatre at the Changping AEON Cineplex in Beijing, China. A second Barco Escape theatre will open at CFG’s United square Cineplex in Shanghai this December.The format debuts to audiences in China this month with 20th Century Fox’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
CJ 4DPlex has announced 4DX auditoriums with Mars Cinema Group in Turkey and an expansion of its deal with Arena Cinemas in Switzerland and Cineworld in the UK.
Marcus Theatres, the fifth-largest theatre chain in the United States, has opened the Midwest’s first 4DX location at the Gurnee Mills Cinema in Gurnee, Illinois. The first movie to take full advantage of the 4DX technology will be Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea, December 11, which will enable moviegoers to experience the story of Moby Dick with 4DX special effects, including motion, vibration, water, wind, lighting and scents.
CJ 4DPlex’s immersive seating technology 4DX has reached 10 million moviegoers this year-to-date worldwide, grossing $150 million at the box office, according to the company. With two months remaining in 2015, this marks the first time 4DX has reached the 10-million audience mark in a calendar year.
Last year Barco Escape debuted to audiences in the United States and Europe with The Maze Runner, earning rave reviews from moviegoers and critics. Directed by Wes Ball and released this month by 20th Century Fox, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials picks up where the original film left off, with Gladers facing a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.
