ZAGREB, Croatia, April 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) today announced an agreement with Blitz-Cinestar, Croatia's leading commercial theatre operator, to build a new stand-alone IMAX® theatre as part of the new Cinestar Arena Commercial 10-screen Theatre Multiplex in Zagreb, Croatia. The new digital IMAX theatre is scheduled to open in December 2010, as the first IMAX location in Croatia.
"The incredible success that IMAX theatres are having all over the world shows us that IMAX is revolutionizing the way people see event movies, delivering an unrivaled, premium entertainment experience," said Hrvoje Krstulovic, Member of the Board of Blitz-Cinestar. "We are pleased to be building a new IMAX theatre, which will provide the people of Zagreb and Croatia with the opportunity to watch great films in IMAX. We are proud that the first Croatian IMAX theatre is also the first in the region of former Yugoslavia, and this deal is sure to enhance our overall growth and mark a new era in moviegoing for the region. We look forward to working together with IMAX in developing more IMAX theatres in the countries of the former Yugoslavia."
"The IMAX footprint is growing worldwide as we see increasing consumer demand for the best movies in the best format possible in our existing and emerging markets such as Eastern Europe," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "We look forward to opening our new theatre in Zagreb, and we are confident that Blitz-Cinestar is the right partner to introduce IMAX in this market. With our film slate, program flexibility that comes with our digital projection system and the power of The IMAX Experience® in any part of the world, we are confident of our continued success."
The current IMAX film slate for the remainder of 2010 includes Iron Man 2: The IMAX Experience (May 2010); DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After: An IMAX 3D Experience (May 2010); Walt Disney Pictures' Prince of Persia: Sands of Time: The IMAX Experience (May 2010); Walt Disney Pictures' Toy Story 3: An IMAX 3D Experience (June 2010); Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: The IMAX Experience (June 2010); Warner Bros. Pictures' Inception: The IMAX Experience (July 2010); Walt Disney Pictures' Tron Legacy: An IMAX 3D Experience (December 2010); and an IMAX original film in partnership with Warner Brothers, titled Hubble 3D (March 2010). The Company remains in active discussions with virtually all of the major studios regarding potential titles for release as far out as 2012.
About Blitz-Cinestar
Blitz-Cinestar is the largest theatrical exhibitor in the region of former Yugoslavia. It was founded in 2003 as a Joint Venture between the leading Croatian film distributor – Blitz Film & Video Distribution, and Kieft & Kieft Cinestar Group. Blitz represents the film slates of Warner Bros. Pictures International including New Line Cinema, United International Pictures – UIP (Universal Pictures International, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG), Summit Entertainment, Icon Entertainment (founded by Mel Gibson), Europa Corp (Luc Besson), and many others. Kieft & Kieft Cinestar Group, founded in 1948, is responsible for the creation of Cinestar multiplex chain, one of Europe's largest exhibition chains, which includes 700 screens in Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland and other European countries. Driven by the desire to raise the quality of theatrical exhibition facilities in Croatia to match the quality in European countries, in 2003, Blitz-Cinestar opened its first Croatian multiplex (Cinestar Zagreb), which was followed by Cinestar Novi Zagreb (2007), Cinestar Rijeka (2007), Cinestar Zadar (2008), Cinestar Sibenik (2010) and Cinestar Arena (December 2010). By the end of 2011 Blitz-Cinestar will have opened another three multiplexes in Croatia: Cinestar Osijek, Cinestar Slavonski Brod, and Cinestar Varazdin. The aforementioned multiplex theatres will comprise of a national Cinestar chain of 9 multiplexes with 71 screens and a total seating capacity of 12,800.
Blitz-CineStar has been developing and promoting the Cinestar Brand in Croatia, which resulted in CineStar being awarded the status of a Superbrand in 2008, while in 2008 it was selected among top 30 Croatian brands by the consumers. Special attention is paid to maintaining state-of-the-art technologies in motion picture exhibition, which, along with the current slate of major Hollywood movies and the world's leading independent productions, has been ensuring Blitz-Cinestar a continued profitablity and the position of the regions' leading theatrical exhibitor.
The logos of Blitz-Cinestar, Cinestar Arena, and Cinestar Cinemas are available at ftp://imax:47mks28@ftp.blitz.hr. You may also connect with Blitz-Cinestar on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/CineStar-Multiplexi/152324413020
Web site: www.blitz-cinestar.hr
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, specializing in immersive motion picture technologies. The worldwide IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event Hollywood films around the globe, with IMAX theatres delivering the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX® 3D, and IMAX DMR® technology. IMAX DMR is the Company's groundbreaking digital re-mastering technology that allows it to digitally transform virtually any conventional motion picture into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience®. The IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences for consumers. As of December 31, 2009, there were 430 IMAX theatres (309 commercial, 121 institutional) operating in 48 countries.
The IMAX Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6469
IMAX(R), IMAX(R) 3D, IMAX DMR(R), An IMAX 3D Experience(R) and The IMAX Experience(R) 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/imaxnews) 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, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions, foreign currency fluctuations and the Company's prior restatements and the related litigation and ongoing inquiries by the SEC and 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.