Disney debuts giant screen brand for cinemas to rival Imax

Last year, Imax recorded its highest-ever year for box office sales as moviegoers sought out more immersive experiences, a market Disney wants their own exclusive access to. Photo by Contributed/Telegraph-Journal

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Walt Disney Co. is partnering with movie theatre chains on a new large-format screen certification that will roll out in time for the release of Avengers: Doomsday in December.

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To qualify for the new Infinity Vision label, auditoriums will need a screen width of at least 50-feet, laser projection, and the 7.1 surround-sound system from Dolby Laboratories Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

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Close to 5,500 screens globally — about three times the number of Canadian film projection company Imax Corp. venues — would meet the standards for the new label, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information is private.

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The founding of Infinity Vision is in part the result of the fact that superhero film Avengers: Doomsday — from Disney’s Marvel Studios — doesn’t have exclusive access to Imax’s screens when it opens the weekend of Dec. 18. Imax has an agreement in place to screen Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three from Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s film studio, which opens the same weekend. Disney contributes more to Imax’s revenue than any other Hollywood distributor, and is partnered with Imax on several upcoming releases including The Mandalorian and Grogu in May.

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Representatives for Disney and Imax declined to comment.

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Imax has become an increasingly crucial component in the making and marketing of Hollywood blockbusters. The company, founded in Montreal in 1967, works directly with marquee filmmakers to develop proprietary cameras that capture exceptional detail, licenses its large-screen technology to cinema chains, and offers round-the-clock quality monitoring and support. Studios regularly set release dates based on how many Imax screens are available to present their films.

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Last year, Imax recorded its highest-ever year for box office sales as moviegoers seek out more immersive experiences. Tickets to some screenings of the first movie filmed entirely with Imax cameras — Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Odyssey, from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures — sold out last July, a full year before the picture opens this summer. This Thanksgiving, Netflix Inc., which has historically resisted releasing films in a large number of theatres, is distributing Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew in Imax, although not every cinema operator has agreed to show it.

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A number of theatre chains began holding conversations last year about establishing an industry-wide certification for their premium screens, which are marketed separately under brands such as AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s XL, Regal Cineworld Group’s RPX and Cinemark Holdings Inc.’s XD. Theatre operators would still be able to offer their own big-screen brands alongside the Infinity Vision certification. Disney hasn’t disclosed how many chains it’s signed up so far.

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The chains discussed the need for Hollywood studios to help market any new certification to ensure it would be successful, Bloomberg reported at the time.

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