BEIJING and NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) and Bona Film Group (Nasdaq:BONA), a leading film distributor in China, today announced that the 3D martial arts motion picture Flying Swords of Dragon Gate will be digitally re-mastered into the IMAX® 3D format and released to IMAX® theatres in China day-and-date in December 2011. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate: An IMAX 3D Experience is the first Chinese-language production to be released in IMAX 3D. The film reunites renowned director http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/tsui_hark.htmhttp://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/tsui_hark.htm">Tsui Hark with his Once Upon a Time in China leading man, http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/li_jet.htmhttp://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/li_jet.htm">Jet Li, and also stars Zhou Xun, Aloys Chen Kun, Li Yuchun and Kwai Lun-Mei.
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate will be the third Chinese-language film to be released in the IMAX format. As IMAX's fastest-growing international market, with 48 theatres currently in operation and 129 in backlog, China is home to some of the Company's highest-grossing theatres in the world.
"IMAX motion picture technologies have revolutionized the moviegoing experience and together we are making history by presenting Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in the immersive IMAX 3D format," said Dong Yu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bona Film Group, the producer and distributor of the film. "We are pleased to join forces with IMAX and offer audiences the opportunity to be transported into http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/tsui_hark.htmhttp://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/tsui_hark.htm">Tsui Hark's epic martial arts tale."
"As the first-ever Chinese martial-arts film to be presented in 3D, we're extremely proud to partner with Bona Films to deliver Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in IMAX 3D," said Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment. "Chinese moviegoers crave more local films presented in IMAX and as our network expansion in China continues, we look forward to meeting this growing consumer demand."
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate: An IMAX 3D Experience will be 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 Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
Chow Wai-On, a Ming Dynasty general played by Jet Li, finds himself at odds with Yu Hua-Tian (http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/chen_aloys.htmlhttp://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/chen_aloys.html">Aloys Chen Kun), an evil, power-hungry eunuch. Eventually, these two adversaries cross paths with Lin Yan-Qiu (http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/zhou_xun.htmhttp://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/zhou_xun.htm">Zhou Xun) at the titular Dragon Gate Inn, a remote outpost in the desert at the very frontier of the kingdom.
About Bona Film Group Limited
Bona Film Group Limited (Nasdaq:BONA) is a leading film distributor in China, with an integrated business model encompassing film production, film distribution, advertising, theatre management, film exhibition and talent representation. Bona distributes films to Europe, Greater China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the United States, invests and produces movies in a variety of genres, owns and operates seventeen movie theaters and manages a range of talented and popular Chinese artists.
For more information about Bona, please visit www.bonafilm.cn.
About IMAX China
IMAX China is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMAX Corporation, and is incorporated under the laws of Hong Kong. IMAX China was established by IMAX Corporation specifically to oversee the expansion of IMAX's business throughout Greater China.
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 theaters 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 June 30, 2011, there were 560 IMAX theatres (417 commercial multiplex, 25 commercial destination and 118 institutional) operating in 46 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 (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, competitive actions by other companies, the performance of IMAX DMR films, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes in law or regulations, conditions, 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 and any future international expansion, foreign currency fluctuations and the Company's prior restatements and the related litigation. 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.