The Guitammer Company has announced that it shipped equipment for a combined 17 new auditoriums totaling more than 3,700 ButtKicker-enabled seats for installations at movie theatres in the U.S. and China in the third quarter of 2016.
With 700 seats, the Kino 10 of CinemaxX Mannheim is among the largest cinemas in Baden-Württemberg. And at nearly 280 square meters, the screen is definitely the largest. Years ago Filmtheaterbetriebe Spickert Entertainment, operator of the CinemaxX installed an Alcons Cinemarray pro-ribbon system. The theatre has converted to Dolby Atmos and new Alcons technology has taken center stage.
In what could be the most immersive movie experience ever, producers Alex A. Ginzburg and Tony Lee of Let It Play have announced a partnership with 4DX and ScreenX that will make their recently announced film We Kill Death the first feature film produced specifically for each of the two immersive cinema technology formats. We Kill Death focuses on YouTube stars Mustang Wanted, Oleg Cricket and the duo of Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov, who are familiar to millions of viewers around the world for their imaginative and death-defying stunts and adventures.
The Guitammer Company’s Beijing, China-based partner, Lumiere Pavilions has installed more than 4,600 Buttkicker-enabled seats across China. Lumiere recently placed a new order with Guitammer that covers 818 additional seats, which are all LD equipment upgrades to its current Guiyang, Beijing Qiaofu and Nanjing Hongyang theaters.
Seven new 4DX immersive seating auditoriums have opened in Japan through partnerships between CJ CGV subsidiary CJ 4DPlex, Aeon Cinemas, United Cinemas and 109 Cinemas. 4DX recently released two highly anticipated Japanese titles, One Piece Film Gold and Shin Godzilla and received positive responses in Japanese box office. For the first screening weekend, One Piece Film Gold and Shin Godzilla represented 75 percent and 59 percent occupancy rate, respectively.
Regal Entertainment Group will add the 4DX immersive cinema experience to 17 additional screens in the U.S. by the end of 2018. This will include the installation of 4DX seating in Orlando, Florida and Seattle, Washington within the next few months.
CJ 4DPlex has opened the first 4DX theater in Serbia through a partnership with CineStar Cinemas. The theater is located at CineStar Novi Sad inside the shopping center Big. The 4DX theater opened on July 15 with showings of Ice Age: Collision Course and The Legend of Tarzan. The theatre recorded over 90 percent capacity in the 4DX seats on their first weekend.
CJ 4DPlex has signed with Shanghai Film Corporation one of the top multiplex operators in China to expand 4DX to more than 20 screens within three years. SFC, a state-owned company, is a film production company that also distributes, exhibits movies and has studios, cinema chains. It currently operates some 300 screens at 40 locations in the East China region.
ECCO Cine Supply and Service has reached an agreement with Turkish exhibitor Mars Cinema Group to install and service D-Box Technologies cinematic motion systems in two multiplex theatres in Istanbul. Under the agreement, ECCO will deliver a total of 80 D-Box motion seats to Cinemaximum Akbati, located in the up-and-coming northeast neighborhood of Instanbul, and Cinemaximum Akasya, situated in the university district on the Asian side.
CJ 4DPlex has installed its immersive seating technology in the east European market, available for the first time in Slovakia through a partnership with Cineworld Plc, Europe’s number two multiplex chain. CJ 4DPlex brought the first 4DX theatre to Slovakia on May 11, and the first screening presented was Captain America: Civil War, beginning May 12. Cineworld’s Cinema City is operating three multiplexes and 29 screens in Slovakia and the first 4DX theatre is located in Cinema City Aupark, the biggest residential area with easy access from any point in Bratislava, the central city of Slovakia. Cinema City Aupark, operating 12 screens and 2313 seats, is situated in Aupark Mall, the most famous culture complex shopping center in Slovakia, including lots of restaurants, sports centers, cafes, and shops.
