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THE SCREENING ROOM

Compiled By

William Kallay

Imax movies have traditionally been associated with museum and special venue (theme park and science centers) theatres.  In the past few years, however, the Imax brand has entered the field of commercial exhibition.  A number of commercial theatre chains have invested, over the years, in building a large format auditorium into their megaplex theatres.

The box office results have been mixed, but promising enough for Warner Bros. to continue releasing Imax DMR prints with their 35mm counterparts day-and-date. 

The first film released commercially in Imax theatres was the Walt Disney Pictures release of “Fantasia/2000” in 2000.  The film was very successful in the few Imax venues in which it played.  Ironically, the 35mm and digital cinema versions of the film flopped.

In 2002, Imax unveiled its new DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) process, whereby 35mm and digital (24p) films could be blown up to Imax 15-perf/70mm film format.  The format was possibly in answer to the outrageous practice of some commercial theatres running unmasked 35mm prints on their Imax screens and boasting "enhanced presentation."  This was not only of poor presentation quality, but audiences going into the theatre expecting an Imax presentation were being sold a lie.  Some theatres hyped that certain movies, like “Gladiator” (2000) were on the giant Imax screen.  True, but the image from a 35mm was dim, grainy and only filled a portion of the large screen.  At least with DMR prints, high-quality 70mm prints were struck using Imax’s proprietary software and stringent quality control.

Not all of the commercial films released in the large format have gone through the DMR process. Some Disney animated films, like “Beauty And The Beast,” were converted to Imax from the original digital files on which the films were finalized. This resulted in very high resolution prints.

Although we don't have traditional 5-perf 70mm prints released these days on new films, there is an alternative in these Imax prints.  They're very high in quality and a lot better than a 35mm print.  Yes, it's kind of disappointing to pay $11.00 on one of these conversions.  To use a tired cliché, back in the day, it cost the same amount of money to see a 70mm blow-up as it did for a 35mm print of the same film!  And, what you're seeing in these digital-to-Imax and DMR prints isn't true 15-perf Imax.  But it's a nice alternative to poor looking 35mm release prints.  Still, it makes one wonder why so much money is spent on these large format prints, when striking 5-perf 70mm prints on today's high quality film stock will yield similar results.  And there is no letterboxing involved, as there is with the Imax prints.  The 5-perf 70mm image will fill a standard widescreen with ease.  That said, it is appealing to see high quality 70mm prints on gigantic screens.  Once the lights dim, the audience is seeing a huge and pretty clean image on the screen.  

What follows is a list of every commercial Imax film released since 2000.  Some films have had their original aspect ratios modified for DMR release, like “Apollo 13” and "Star Wars: Episode II," in an effort to fill a larger portion of the Imax screen.  But most others retained their original widescreen aspect ratios or an approximation via a letterboxed presentation.

LEGEND

TITLE  Studio / U.S. Release Date / Aspect Ratio (principal photography) / 3-D where applicable

2000

FANTASIA/2000  Disney / Jan. 1 / 1.66:1 (digital)

2002

APOLLO 13  Imagine-Universal / Sep. 20 / 1.66:1 (Super-35)

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST  Disney / Jan. 1 / 1.66:1 (Super-35/digital)

THE LION KING  Disney / Dec. 25 / 1.66:1 (Super-35/digital)

STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES  Lucasfilm Ltd.-20th Century Fox / Nov. 1 / 1.81:1 (Hi-Def)

TREASURE PLANET  Disney / Nov. 27 / 1.66:1 (digital)

2003

GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS  Disney / Apr. 11 / 1.78:1 (Hi-Def) / 3-D

THE MATRIX RELOADED  Warner Bros. / June 6 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS  Warner Bros. / Nov. 5 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

THE YOUNG BLACK STALLION  Disney / Dec. 25 / 1.44:1 (15/70)

2004

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN  Warner Bros. / June 4 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

THE POLAR EXPRESS  Warner Bros. / Nov. 10 / 2.00:1 (digital) / 3-D

SPIDER-MAN 2  Sony / July 23 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

2005

ALIENS OF THE DEEP  Disney / Jan. 28 / 1.78:1 / 3-D

BATMAN BEGINS  Warner Bros. / June 15 / 2.39:1 (anamorphic)

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY  Warner Bros. / July 15 / 1.85:1 (Super-35)

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE  Warner Bros. / Nov. 18 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

ROBOTS  20th Century Fox / Mar. 11 / 1.85:1 (digital)

2006

THE ANT BULLY  Warner Bros. / July 28 / 1.85:1 (digital) / 3-D

HAPPY FEET  Warner Bros. / Nov. 17 / 2.39:1 (digital)

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM  20th Century Fox / Dec. 22 / 1.85:1 (Super-35)

OPEN SEASON  Sony / Sep. 29 / 1.85:1 (digital) / 3-D

POSEIDON  Warner Bros. / May 12 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

SUPERMAN RETURNS  Warner Bros. / June 28 / 2.39:1 (Hi-Def) / 3-D sequences

V FOR VENDETTA  Warner Bros. / Mar. 17 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)

2007

300  Warner Bros. / Mar. 9 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)
BEOWULF Warner Bros. / Nov. 16 / 2.39:1 (digital) / 3-D

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX  Warner Bros. / July 13 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)
I AM LEGEND Warner Bros. / December 14 / 2.39:1 (anamorphic)

SPIDER-MAN 3  Sony / May 4 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)
TRANSFORMERS DreamWorks/Paramount / Sep. 21 / 2.39:1 (anamorphic)

2008
THE DARK KNIGHT Warner Bros. / July 18 / 2.39:1 & 1.44:1 (anamorphic & 15/70)
EAGLE EYE DreamWorks/Paramount / September 26 / 2.39:1
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Warner Bros. / November 21 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)
KUNG FU PANDA DreamWorks/Paramount / June 6 / 2.39:1 (digital)
MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA DreamWorks/Paramount / November 7 /1.85:1 (digital)
SHINE A LIGHT  Paramount Classics / April 4 / 1.85:1 (35mm and video)
SPEED RACER  Warner Bros.  / May 8 / 2.39:1
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES Paramount / February 15 / 2.39:1 (Super-35)
U2:3D National Geographic Cinema Ventures / January 23 / NA

2009
WATCHMEN Warner Bros. / March 6 / 2.39:1
MONSTERS VS ALIENS Dreamworks/Paramount / March 27 / NA
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN 20th Century Fox / May 22 / NA
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN DreamWorks/Paramount / June 26 / NA

2010
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON DreamWorks/Paramount / March 26 / NA
SHREK GOES FOURTH DreamWorks/Paramount / May 21 / NA
 

PLANNED, BUT NEVER RELEASED IN IMAX

(Titles that received studio press release and/or trade coverage announcing intention to release in IMAX)

Aladdin

The Aviator

Catwoman

Gladiator

Happy Feet (announced for 3-D release; title released in IMAX 2-D)

King Kong

Shrek

Tarzan

SELECTED IMAX BOXOFFICE GROSSES (all figures in millions)

Fantasia/2000: $89.3

The Polar Express: $42.7

Beauty And The Beast: $30.1

Ghosts Of The Abyss: $22.2

The Lion King: $17.6

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: $14.0

The Matrix Reloaded: $14.0

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban: $10.0

The Matrix Revolutions: $8.9

Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones: $7.4

Young Black Stallion: $6.7

Aliens Of The Deep: $6.1

Apollo 13: $2.4

Robots: $1.4

REFERENCES

Disney, LF Examiner, Lucasfilm Ltd., Variety, Andy Gellis of LFCA, www.boxofficemojo.com, www.the-numbers.com, www.bigmoviezone.com

*According to LF Examiner, 20 minutes of the film will be shown in 3-D with special on-screen cues to tell the audience to put on their 3-D glasses.