Contagion Coming to IMAX

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 6, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that the thriller Contagion, from Academy Award^® winning director Steven Soderbergh will open in 257 domestic IMAX® theatres Sept. 9, 2011, simultaneously with its North American wide release. The film will also open in at least 30 IMAX theatres internationally. Additional international playdates are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The film brings together a stellar ensemble cast, including Academy Award^® winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Inception); Academy Award^® winner Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, the Bourne films); Oscar^® nominee Laurence Fishburne (What's Love Got to Do With It, The Matrix); Oscar^® nominee Jude Law (Cold Mountain, Sherlock Holmes); Academy Award^® winner Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, Iron Man); and Academy Award^® winner Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic).

Contagion: The IMAX Experience has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience^® through proprietary IMAX DMR^® technology. With crystal clear images, laser-aligned digital sound and theatre geometry that maximizes field of view, IMAX provides the world's most immersive movie experience.

About Contagion

Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh from an original screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, Contagion also stars Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle and Sanaa Lathan. It is produced by Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher and Gregory Jacobs, with Jeff Skoll, Michael Polaire, Jonathan King and Ricky Strauss serving as executive producers. The creative filmmaking team includes production designer Howard Cummings, editor Stephen Mirrione, costume designer Louise Frogley and composer Cliff Martinez.

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, a Double Feature Films/Gregory Jacobs Production, Contagion will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film is rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language.

For downloadable general press information, please visit www.contagionmovie.com.

Contagion: The IMAX Experience is scheduled to play day-and-date at the following IMAX^® theatres beginning September 9^th:

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).

The IMAX Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6469

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX 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 IMAX, 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, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions, foreign currency fluctuations and IMAX's prior restatements and the related litigation.  These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.