Sony Corp. says its experiment to put giant screen Imax movie technology into an urban theater complex is an unqualified success and it will roll out more of the large-format motion picture systems around the world.
Japan-based Sony will anchor cinema complexes in San Francisco and Berlin with 3-D Imax theaters, the company announced.In November Sony opened a cinema complex across the street from the Lincoln Center in New York, and within it placed the first Imax screen in a major cinema complex. Besides the Imax screen - eight stories high and 10 stories wide - Sony's Lincoln Center complex also contains 11 conventional theaters.
For Toronto-based Imax Corp. the relationship with Sony is critical. The Imax technology, first demonstrated to the public in 1970, hasn't been much of a moneymaker. It lost $11 million last year and $270,000 in 1993.
About 150 Imax theaters exist or are under construction around the world, mostly in museums and theme parks. That's not nearly enough to justify major film production in the Imax format. Consequently, there are only about 100 Imax films in existence.
But with Sony backing the technology, Imax vice chairman Richard Gelfond said he expects that number to climb quickly. There are about 20 in production, including two by Sony and five by Imax.
"If you can amortize the cost of a film over a fairly large theater base, a lot of people will find it profitable," Gelfond said.
The San Francisco and Berlin complexes were chosen for Sony's expansion because they are high-traffic locations, Imax officals said. In San Francisco, Sony is planning a theater complex similar to its Lincoln Center facility, with an Imax theater as the centerpiece.