LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) announced today that Sanctum, from executive producer James Cameron, will be released for a special two-week run in IMAX® 3D digital locations beginning February 4, 2011. This release occurs simultaneously with the action-thriller's wide release in domestic and select international markets from Universal Pictures. Shot on location off the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, the new film from director Alister Grierson employs 3D photography techniques Cameron developed to lens Avatar.
"A film executive produced by James Cameron using his own 3D technology deserves a partner in IMAX which will offer audiences a fully immersive experience with Sanctum," said Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson. "We're thrilled that it is joining Fast Five in next year's IMAX offerings from Universal."
"We are committed to offering our growing audience the world's best movie experience with exciting titles from the best studios, and Sanctum certainly helps us deliver on that commitment," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "This special two-week run provides IMAX® theatres with more films in the first quarter than ever before, highlighting the flexibility in programming created by our digital network."
"We are excited to continue our long-term partnership with James Cameron, as well as the team at Universal, by offering IMAX moviegoers the opportunity to experience the thrilling action of Sanctum," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "This film, coupled with the IMAX 3D format, will provide audiences with jaw-dropping access to otherwise inaccessible regions of the world and put you right in the middle of the action."
About Sanctum
The 3D action-thriller Sanctum 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?
Designed to operate in extreme environments, the technology used to shoot Sanctum will bring audiences on a breathless journey across plunging cliffs and into the furthest reaches of our subterranean world. www.sanctummovie.com
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 September 30, 2010, there were 470 IMAX theatres (348 commercial, 122 institutional) operating in 45 countries.
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 (http://www.youtube.com/imaxmovies">www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).
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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.