outcastja

Usually films that are shown on IMAX screens have a month or two gap between each release, which gives plenty of time to catch it. Like last year with Dark Knight, then two months later Eagle Eye, then Madagascar. However, this year there's quite a bit of films that will be released on IMAX two to three weeks apart.

Watchmen which keeps promoting IMAX in the commercials will only be on for three weeks before Monster vs Aliens 3D IMAX is released. In May there's Star Trek and then two weeks later Terminator, and Night at the Museum which is going to be released on the same day. Transformers which has some scenes filmed with IMAX cameras will only have a three week run before Harry Potter is released on IMAX.

Will theaters try to accommodate all these films, like show one movie at 3pm and the other at 6pm? Do studios even care if their film has a short run since it makes so little on IMAX? I think IMAX only accounted for 5% of Dark Knight's overall gross.

My Other Self

My local IMAX theater rotates movies throughout the day. I'm guessing that's what they'd do.

NitroJMS

In the case of Watchmen and the abysmal looking Monsters vs. Aliens, I'd imagine they'll show the kids movie during the day and Watchmen during the evenings.

tanman

Considering the staggering gross on DK and the fact that there are so few IMAX screens around I think %5 is quite a bit of money. I think it's growing. That being said I am disappointed with how short the movies are showing in IMAX. I really wanted to see DK but never got around to it because I thought it would have had a longer run in IMAX then in regular theaters. I'm dissapointed they didn't rerelease it in January like I thought they were going to.

My Other Self

They re-released it. I just saw it last week.

It's still playing here throughout the next 3 weeks.

Giles

at Hoffman it's two shows a day, and then 'Bride War' in DLP on the same screen - hey's it's a digital system, better make us of it, then show nothing.

I'd suspect that IMAX-Digital screens will be glad that the turn over time from movie to movie will be quicker. I didn't realize 'Terminator 4' would be released in IMAX.

Supermallet

I also didn't know Terminator 4 would be released in IMAX. Especially if Night at the Museum is the same day. The studios generally take turns on IMAX releases, because they know there are only so many to go around. I wonder if Terminator 4 will only be an IMAX digital release, i.e. no 70mm prints, and Night at the Museum gets to go 70.

Mikael79

I'm personally wondering how many extra workers on the set we'll be able to see on Terminator 4, with the wider aspect ratio.

fumanstan

Really? Around here Dark Knight was around in IMAX just about as long as the normal theatrical run and people probably had ~3 months to see it.

Giles

I personally think 2.35 wide screen movies look like shit on the IMAX screen, if a film is going to get shown on the box like screen, there should be someway to open the image height wise and take up most of the screen - the black bars are soooo goddamn annoying.

Giles

yet some 70mm/Imax conversions are lacking, notably my impressions of 'The Spiderwick Chronicles' in IMAX, it might have been intentional on the DP and director's part but the film overall appeared soft. The DMR seemed lacking and really didn't seem to have a significent impact on IMAX' large screen size.

ChefWinduAZ

According to the IMAX website Terminator 4 is not going to be in IMAX. It goes from Star Trek to Night at the Museum 2. I haven;t heard anything about Terminator 4 being in IMAx. Usually that would be in the credits of the trailer.

Supermallet

Some of these decisions happen very late in the game. Apparently there are talks of the Jonas Bros. concert being in IMAX, although most likely that will only be Digital IMAX.

starman9000

I don't have an Imax within 200+ miles

At least we finally got a 3d screen.

islandclaws

They're opening another IMAX in SoCal shortly, so maybe the 2 theaters will collaborate to determine a schedule that allows different films to be on the 2 screens at different times.

outcastja

Where are they opening? The IMAX at Anaheim Gardenwalk is a joke, the screen is like half the size of Irvine and the Bridge.

fumanstan

http://www.family-vacation-getaways-...alifornia.html

Looks like there's a few coming.

islandclaws

Yea, the latest one I read about is in Aliso Viejo. I haven't been over to that theater in a while, so I'm still trying to figure out in my head just where they're going to put it.

Supermallet

Are they real IMAX or Digital IMAX?

outcastja

What's the difference besides one being digital and the other film? Does Digital IMAX have smaller screens than real IMAX?

TomOpus

Down here, when they were putting in an IMAX at the Edwards, I wondered where they were gonna put it. Turned out, they just converted their largest theater into the IMAX one. I'm not familiar with the theater you're talking about but they might do the same thing.

Matthew Chmiel

I said something similar about Speed Racer. Wasn't impressed with it at all when I saw it in IMAX opening day, but was more impressed when I saw it in DLP a few weeks later.

Ironically, The Dark Knight was breathtaking in IMAX but looked very soft when in DLP (I preferred the 35mm print I saw opening night over the DLP a few days later).

RocShemp

We got neither in Puerto Rico.

The first (and only) IMAX screen we had was in Plaza las Americas of Rio Hondo. It lasted a few months (if not less), showing some documentaries and then it was quickly scrapped. There seem to be no plans to bring another.

Supermallet

There's three basic flavors of IMAX. The first, and best, is what most people think of when they hear IMAX. Six story screens with huge auditoriums. These run 70mm IMAX film on large projectors. These are the theaters that showcase the true awe and majesty a great IMAX film can unveil.

Then there are what are known in the industry as "IMAX Jr" theaters, which is a regular large movie theater with the top and bottom, which is normally used as masking, opened up for more screen real estate. These retain the aspect ratio of larger IMAX theaters, but in a smaller space, and the projectors are also smaller and not as hardy.

Now there are Digital IMAX theaters. These basically look like regular large movie screens, and IMAX uses two 2K digital projectors to project the image. It's really not significantly better than a well calibrated single-projector DLP system. These can only run DMR films, i.e. Hollywood films remastered in IMAX. For example, when The Dark Knight ran in digital IMAX houses, it shifted ratios the way it did on the Blu-ray, from 2.35:1 to 1.77:1, not to 1.43:1 or whatever the full IMAX ratio is.

Digital IMAX is, in my mind, a rip-off, and I would never pay extra money over a regular movie ticket to see it. IMAX Jr theaters can be good, and you're at least getting a 70mm image, but the overall experience isn't as intense or immediate as when you see films in a true IMAX theater.