NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) and AMC Theatres (NYSE:AMC) today unveiled the new IMAX VR Centre at AMC Kips Bay 15 in New York City. The Centre, which marks the second IMAX has launched worldwide and the first to be installed within a multiplex, delivers guests immersive, multi-dimensional virtual reality experiences, including movie entertainment content and games.
IMAX VR at AMC is a mind-shattering VR experience in a location-based, state-of-the-art experience centre. The IMAX VR experience features a unique combination of premium technology and world-class content that lets users see, feel, move and play in new worlds in a powerfully immersive and realistic way, much like IMAX® theatres offer moviegoers a differentiated and best-in-class film experience. With groundbreaking VR headset technology, 360-degree sound and sophisticated room tracking, players will be instantly transported into new interactive virtual worlds that are more realistic than anything imaginable.
“For nearly 50 years, IMAX’s mission has been to give audiences – of all ages and across generations – a reason to get off their couches and leave the comfort of home to go out to the cinema. With our LA flagship VR Centre already exceeding initial expectations, we are excited to kick off our multiplex strategy by launching our first pilot location within a multiplex with AMC,” said IMAX Corp. CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “As our largest domestic exhibitor partner, AMC shares our commitment to innovation and together we look forward to ushering in the next evolution of immersive entertainment at AMC Theatres through IMAX VR.”
The Centre, which is located in the lobby of the AMC Kips Bay 15 multiplex, employs a new design – proprietary to IMAX – that consists of 12 “pods” to allow multiple players to enjoy highly interactive, exciting, moveable VR experiences in an extremely social environment. The pods, which are designed to optimize user mobility and interaction in virtual environments, can be adapted for specific content experiences – whether single or multi-user. With this first multiplex location, IMAX is testing VR’s ability to draw younger audiences, particularly millennials and Gen Z, to the cinema in greater numbers.
“We are excited to expand our longstanding partnership with IMAX to bring this fun, innovative experience to our guests at AMC Kips Bay 15,” said Adam Aron, CEO and President, AMC Theatres. “IMAX VR at AMC is a captivating evolution of the incredibly immersive IMAX experience that AMC guests know and love.”
IMAX will provide the Centre an ongoing array of new, premium interactive content experiences that are each expected to range between 5 and 15 minutes in length. Through its recently established IMAX VR Content Fund, the Company is in advanced stages with several content developers, including Hollywood studios and gaming publishers, to produce and distribute high-quality VR experiences to its centres. IMAX recently announced a new co-financing and production agreement with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to develop and release three premium, interactive VR experiences based on some of Warner Bros. Pictures' most highly anticipated upcoming blockbuster films.
IMAX launched its flagship pilot IMAX VR Centre, which is off to a strong start, in Los Angeles in January, and is set to open up to eight additional centres in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, the Middle East, China and Japan in 2017. IMAX plans to use these pilot locations to test several factors, including the overall customer experience, pricing models and the types of content featured. If successful, the intent is to roll out the concept globally to select multiplexes as well as commercial locations such as shopping centers and tourist destinations.
For more information and to purchase tickets for IMAX VR at AMC, visit www.amctheatres.com/IMAXVR.
About AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., in Europe and throughout the world with approximately 1,000 theatres and 11,000 screens across the globe. AMC has propelled innovation in the exhibition industry by: deploying more plush power-recliner seats; delivering enhanced food and beverage choices; generating greater guest engagement through its loyalty program, web site and smart phone apps; offering premium large format experiences and playing a wide variety of content including the latest Hollywood releases and independent programming. AMC operates among the most productive theatres in the United States' top markets, having the #1 or #2 market share positions in 22 of the 25 largest metropolitan areas of the United States, including the top three markets (NY, LA, Chicago). Through its Odeon subsidiary AMC operates in 14 European countries and is the # 1 theatre chain in UK & Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States.
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you’ve never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX’s network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of March 31, 2017, there were 1,226 IMAX theatres (1,121 commercial multiplexes, 14 commercial destinations and 91 institutions) in 75 countries. On Oct. 8, 2015, shares of IMAX China, a subsidiary of IMAX Corp., began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code “HK.1970.”
IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience®, IMAX Is Believing® and IMAX nXos® 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).
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. These 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.