SM to roll out 3 new IMAX theaters in 2 yrs

MANILA, Philippines - SM Cinema and Canada-based megascreen producer IMAX Corp. will roll out three new multiplex theaters in the Philippines within two years.

An IMAX screen is the equivalent of a high-definition TV for a movie theater, which displays images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems. A standard IMAX screen can be anywhere from 40 feet high to 70 feet wide.

In a briefing with reporters yesterday, Edgar Tejerero, senior vice-president of West Avenue Theaters Corp., said the SM Group will open its second IMAX Theater today (July 16) at SM City North EDSA with a seating capacity of 472, bringing to 206 the total number of SM cinemas nationwide. This theater was built at a cost of P120 million and will have Harry Potter as its first feature film.

By the letter part of this year, SM will open another one in Cebu – its first IMAX Theater outside Metro Manila – which will have a total of 500 seats.

A fourth IMAX Theater is slated for completion in 2011 or late 2010, Tejerero said. This will be situated at the planned SM Supermall in Taguig City.

Tejerero said the SM Group is also exploring the possibility of building an IMAX Theater in SM Megmall but pointed out that this is still under study.

The first IMAX Theater in the Philippines opened in 2006 at the SM Mall of Asia along Roxas Boulevard with a total seating capacity of 576.

Tejerero said the expansion was intended to accommodate the increasing demand for IMAX Theaters, which are going through the transition of becoming marginally profitable.

Studies showed that people are increasingly willing to pay more than the standard movie ticket prices to see blockbusters on giant screens. IMAX ticket prices vary from P250 to P400 

“People have become more discriminating. Some are not satisfied with just watching on a regular screen,” Tejerero said.

He said SM cinema ticket sales rose four percent in the first half this year, driven by the showing of the blockbuster film Transformers 2.  

He said since the first IMAX Theater opened in 2006, the SM group has been getting a decent return.

The IMAX system has its roots in Expo ’67 in Montreal, Canada, where multi-screen films were the hit of the fair. A small group of Canadian filmmakers/entrepreneurs who had made some of those popular films, decided to design a new system using a single, powerful projector rather than the cumbersome multi-projectors used at that time. The result: the IMAX motion picture projection system, which would revolutionize giant screen cinema.

Today, the IMAX Theater network consists of more than 250

IMAX affiliated theaters in 36 countries. Approximately 60 percent of the theaters are located in North America, while the remaining 40 percent are spread internationally.

While US is its biggest market, IMAX is increasingly banking its future on Asia, with plans to open 40 new theaters in China by the end of 2012. It recently unveiled partnerships in Taiwan, Russia, India and Europe.

Revenues of IMAX from the US accounted for only a third of the estimated $28 billion in global movie box-office revenues last year.

Variations of the traditional IMAX format include IMAX Dome (using a tilted dome screen) which is sometimes called OmniMAX, IMAX 3D and IMAX Digital.

IMAX is one of the world’s leading entertainment technology companies with a strong focus on motion picture technologies.