Published:
01-Jul-08
RealD has concluded its second large-scale deal for the deployment of digital 3D cinema systems in weeks, the latest a 1,500 screen commitment from Cinemark, the third largest exhibitor in the US market and closely following a similar deal with leading US circuit , Regal, last month. As part of the deal, Cinemark will also include its international locations totalling 4,657 screens (in US and South America) and has signalled a much larger proportion of its screen base (32 per cent) to be upgraded to 3D, compared with a 22 per cent penetration rate for Regal.
Nonetheless, the deal brings the total number of worldwide screens committed to the RealD platform to 5,000, of which close to 1,000 were installed in the US market at the latest data point.
Our take...
Cinemark is just the latest in a strong line up of major US and international circuits to confirm their commitment to the RealD technology on more than 500 screens, including Carmike, Regal, Cinemark and Odeon/UCI (Europe). Cinemark's upgrade, is however, contingent on talks to financially secure the underlying d-cinema equipment through DCIP, a consortium set up by the three largest exhibitors (Regal, AMC and Cinemark) for digital deployment and one which now puts additional pressure to conclude those arrangements over the coming weeks or months, not least to be able to equip a sufficient number of screens for the plethora of 3D titles beginning 2009. In comparison, AMC, the remaining exhibitor behind DCIP, had previously secured a large order for 100 digital Imax systems, but has, as yet, not made a large-scale commitment to digital 3D systems in regular movie theatres. RealD currently has the leading 97 per cent share of the US supplier market for digital stereoscopic technology in cinemas.
USA,
