CJ 4DPlex said today that the company has installed more than 30,000 seats as of this month. The company claims that it is well ahead of any other 4D movie theater brand in the world with nearly three times the number of seats than the closest 4D-cinema competitor. In addition, the company said, 4DX theaters have the capacity to accommodate almost 55 million moviegoers per year, currently reaching 228 auditoriums in 37 counties.
The Immersive Technology Alliance, the official trade organization for immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and stereoscopic 3D, has announced a strategic partnership with the Open Gaming Alliance.
Immersive theater technology from CJ 4DPlex, featuring motion seats and environmental effects, has had a strong impact on the growing Japanese box office. For example, the 4DX version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, released in December, has thus far brought in more than 1 billion yen ($85 million), accounting for more than 10 percent of the title’s total Japanese box office to date. Overall in 2015, 4DX versions of top Hollywood titles such as Jurassic World, Furious 7 and Mad Max: Fury Road recorded 7 percent of the country’s total box office for each title, even though 4DX auditoriums claim only 3.5 percent of the total number of theaters in Japan.
ScreenX, the multi-projection system that allows moviegoers to go beyond the frame of the movie screen by extending the images onto the theatre walls, is opening its second site in the U.S. in Las Vegas in February. After launching the first publicly available theatre at the CGV Cinemas Los Angeles earlier this month, ScreenX is set to open its second screen at the AMC Town Square 18 in Las Vegas. For the second feature film to be shown in this unique format on American soil, ScreenX will feature Mojin: The Lost Legend. Already breaking records in China, Mojin is a science fiction tale following the adventure of a retired tomb raider pulled back into his old profession.
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.
