LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq:IMAX) (TSX:IMX), and Universal Pictures today announced that the 3D epic underwater adventure Sanctum, from three-time Oscar®-winning executive producer James Cameron, will be released in the immersive IMAX® 3D format on Friday, February 4. The film will open on 178 IMAX screens domestically, simultaneous with its North American wide release. Sanctum will also open on at least 16 IMAX screens internationally this Friday. Additional international playdates are expected to be booked in the coming days.
Sanctum: An IMAX 3D Experience has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology for presentation in IMAX 3D. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique immersive environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.
About Sanctum:
The 3D action-thriller Sanctum from director Alister Grierson follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea.
Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team-including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
Shot on location off the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, Sanctum employs 3D photography techniques Cameron developed to lens Avatar. Designed to operate in extreme environments, the technology used to shoot the action-thriller will bring audiences on a breathless journey across plunging cliffs and into the furthest reaches of our subterranean world.
Opening nationwide in theatres and IMAX, the film will be presented in 3D and distributed in domestic and select international markets by Universal Pictures.
The film has been rated "R" by the MPAA for language, some violence and disturbing images.
Sanctum: An IMAX 3D Experience is scheduled to play day-and-date at the following IMAX theatres beginning February 4:
Please check local listings or IMAX.com for final theatre listings, launch dates and showtimes.
** denotes earlier launch * denotes later launch
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry's top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company's new digital projection and sound systems - combined with a growing blockbuster film slate - are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX theatres deliver the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo and Shanghai. As of September 30, 2010, there were 470 IMAX theatres (348 commercial, 122 institutional) operating in 45 countries.
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IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience® and The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/imax ), Twitter ( www.twitter.com/imax ) and YouTube ( www.youtube.com/imaxmovies ).
This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by the Company, the performance of IMAX DMR films, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions, foreign currency fluctuations and the Company's prior restatements and the related litigation and investigation by the SEC and the ongoing inquiry by the OSC. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
CONTACT: Entertainment Media: IMAX Corporation - Santa Monica Rebecca Klein 310-255-5656 rklein@imax.com Principal Communications Group - Los Angeles Melissa Zuckerman/Paul Pflug 323-658-1555 melissa@pcommgroup.com paul@pcommgroup.com Investors: IMAX Corporation - New York Heather Anthony 212-821-0121 hanthony@imax.com Business Media: IMAX Corporation - New York Ann Sommerlath 212-821-0155 asommerlath@imax.com Sloane & Company - New York Whit Clay 212-446-1864 wclay@sloanepr.com