INTERVIEW IMAX Bigger business
Imax CEO Richard Gelfond and new EMEA president Andrew Cripps talk to Wendy Mitchell about their blockbuster summer ahead and the international territories that could see the most growth
pher Nolan shooting more than an hour of The Dark Knight Rises in the Imax format. “Chris is unto himself the lead fanboy
I
for the Imax network,” Imax CEO Rich- ard Gelfond says. “He is so driven by quality and presentation. He’s said it allows the audience to see his vision the way he wants it to be shown.” A newer fan of Imax is Bond, James
Bond. The franchise will move into the format for the fi rst time with Skyfall (out internationally on October 26). “If you look at what happened to Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, putting it in Imax really helped advance the fran- chise,” Gelfond says. “It made sense to try to do the same thing with Bond, to try to introduce more fanboys and younger audiences.” There have already been strong
results this year for films such as The Hunger Games, Marvel’s The Avengers, Men In Black 3 and Prometheus, with The Amazing Spider-Man set to launch this summer. The Imax network continues to grow
rapidly. As of March 31, 2011, there were 528 theatres operating in 46 countries. A year later, the tally was 643 screens in 53 countries. With that growth in mind, in Febru-
ary Imax recruited Andrew Cripps, the former head of Paramount Pictures International, for the new role of presi- dent EMEA. Eventually, Imax believes Europe, the Middle East and Africa could support about 400-450 screens — currently there are 99. Cripps says: “I would put France and Germany at the top of the list where Imax is expanding in Europe. Russia has been a tremendous market for Imax — we’ve got 22 open, and eight later on this year in the pipeline.” He adds: “They embrace technology there [Rus- sia], and the box offi ce has been incred- ibly strong. We’re in business with the top six circuits in Russia.”
■ 8 Screen International June-July 2012
t is good to have fans in high places. Imax heads into its biggest summer in history helped in part by Christo-
As such, the company will work on its
fi rst Russian local release, Stalingrad, in October 2013 (this follows the first French-language Imax release HOUBA! On The Trail Of The Marsupilami). Gelfond notes that slotting in local
‘Christopher Nolan is the lead fanboy for the
Imax network’ Richard Gelfond, Imax
productions can be easier than it might fi rst seem within the busy release calen- dar. “Local language really is a territory- by-territory basis,” he says. “Release schedules are different internationally so it’s fi nding those openings and gaps.” The blackout periods for foreign releases in territories such as Korea and China also present opportunities. And content can be broadly tailored for each part of the world. In the US, the company has slightly shifted its strat- egy away from animated family titles to more live-action films. As such, Pro- metheus took over screens in June instead of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, while the family ani- mation was able to go out on Imax in Eastern Europe and Russia.
‘France and Germany are at the top of the list where Imax is expanding in
Europe’ Andrew Cripps, Imax
Imax cinemas have made their debuts in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in recent months. And a trickier market such as India is also showing signs of opening up, with multi- plexes becom- ing bigger and Imax plan- ning its fi rst Bol-
lywood release by the end of 2013. China — where the company has been working for more than a dec- ade — is also booming, with the number of Imax cinemas open or contracted to open now at 225.
Other hot territories to target include the Mid- dle East, “the UAE in particular”, as Cripps notes. Latin America is
also a key growth market. Gelfond says: “Brazil now has 60 malls under con- struction and it is underscreened in general.” Imax also has technological innova-
tions planned to keep ahead of its rivals, including laser technology patents the company licensed from Kodak in Octo- ber 2011. “The idea is to create a laser- based Imax system, and we’ve partnered with Barco to do that. We expect to release that to theatres in the fourth quarter of 2013,” Gelfond says. “That brightness in 3D will be a big differenti- ator. Also the blacks are blacker, the con- trast is better. It’s a next-generation kind of leap in projection technology.” Also in the pipeline is an Imax format digital camera, which is more nimble than the current Imax fi lm camera, and which could be ready in the second half of
2013. s
The Dark Knight Rises
www.screendaily.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68