Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé, the largest cinema chain operator in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, and Dolby Laboratories announced plans to open 10 Dolby Cinema locations, with seven in France and three in the Netherlands. This includes Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and the upcoming new Pathé cinéma in Massy, south of Paris. Initial locations are expected to be open later this year
Christie 360 Experiential Studios has delivered the world’s first permanent projection mapping show on a cinema façade at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Designed to enhance the guest experience, the forecourt show was launched before an enthralled audience of Hollywood luminaries, local dignitaries and media. Visuals of forecourt of stars handprints, Chinese dragons, and actual movie clips from memorable films that premiered at the Chinese Theatre emerged onto the theatre’s front entrance, which was digitally transformed into an architectural screen.
ScreenX, the multi-projection system that provides a 270-degree panoramic film viewing experience within a theatre setting, announced today that the fifth installment of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will be available in the immersive format. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the first Disney film to be converted into the format, and will be available in seven countries.
An estimated 991 million cinema tickets were sold in the 28 European Union member states in 2016. This is 13.3 million more than in 2015 and marks the highest level registered in the EU since 2004. Cumulative gross box office revenues measured in euros, however, declined slightly by 2.3 percent from 2015’s record high but remained above the €7 billion level for the second consecutive year amounting to an estimated €7.04 billion.
Christie has named industry veteran Brian Claypool as vice president, product management global cinema. He will report to Jennifer Smith, Christie’s executive vice president, global market solutions and engineering, and be based in Cypress, California.
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in the 4DX format, premiered first in Norway and France last month and continues its worldwide distribution at 369 4DX auditoriums in 47 countries including but not limited to the U.S., U.K., Canada, Mexico, South Korea, China and Japan.
Suning Cinema has installed Christie CP2208 cinema 6P laser projection systems in two newly opened multiplexes in Nanjing and Xuzhou. Suning Cinema is owned by the Chinese electronics retail giant Suning Commerce Group.
National CineMedia has partnered with Mediaocean, the leading software provider for the advertising world, to enable agencies to execute convergence buys with NCM’s premium video cinema advertising inventory and Spot TV.
Novo Cinemas, part of the Elan Group in Qatar, has launched a new flagship cinema at Mall of Qatar, in Al Rayyan, Doha. The new cinema features 19 screens, including an IMAX Laser theatre that features the largest IMAX screen in the MENA region and seats 530 people. It also includes an upgraded sound system featuring 12 channels plus sub bass that delivers lifelike sound from all directions, including overhead, to fill the cinema with astonishing clarity, richness, detail, and depth. I spoke recently with Novo Cinemas CEO Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen about the new theatre and, in particular, her belief in the importance of lobbies.
Beekman Investment Partners, through an affiliate, has acquired select assets from AMC Entertainment and Carmike Cinemas and certain of their subsidiaries to create a movie theatre circuit of 16 locations across the U.S., with 184 screens and more than 500 employees.
