Imax Corp. create joint venture with Regal Cinemas

Imax Corp. had entered a joint venture with Regal Cinemas to have 31 of its giant movie screens installed in 20 major U.S. markets.

Photo: Imax Corp. create joint venture with Regal Cinemas

IMAX Corporation is the company that designs and manufactures IMAX cameras and projectors as well as handling film production and distribution to the various IMAX affliated theatres worldwide.

As part of the deal, Imax said in a statement it will share the cost and profitability of the new theaters with Regal Cinemas, a subsidiary of Regal Entertainment Group.

The first group of theaters is expected to open by November. The financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.

Imax said the deal expands its joint venture partnership with Regal Cinemas to 38 theaters and will bring Regal's total number of Imax theaters to 52 by the end of 2010.

Shares of Imax, down 5.5 percent in 2007, closed at C$6.41 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, before the Good Friday holiday. Regal Entertainment shares closed at $19.09 on the New York Stock Exchange.

IMAX Corporation was founded in 1967 after the demo at Expo'67 in Montreal, and was co-headquartered in New York City and Toronto. It is now based outside of Toronto in Mississauga, Ontario.

IMAX Theatre Network operates 250 theatres (IMAX, IMAX 3D and IMAX Dome) and affiliates in 36 countries. One hundred are equipped for IMAX 3D. DKP 70MM Incorporated is an award-winning post-production image and quality control facility.

IMAX (short for Image Maximum) is a film format created by Canada's IMAX Corporation that has the capacity to display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film display systems. A standard IMAX screen is 22 m wide and 16.1 m high (72.6 ft x 52.8 ft), but can be larger. Currently, IMAX is the most widely-used system for large-format, special-venue film presentations. As of March 2007, there were 280 IMAX theatres in 38 countries (60% of these are located in Canada and the United States).

Half of these are commercial theatres and half are in educational venues. A variation of IMAX, IMAX Dome (originally called OMNIMAX), is designed for projection on tilted dome screens. Films can also be projected in 3D with IMAX 3D.

The Hyderabad, India IMAX has the world's largest display screen. The biggest "IMAX Dome" is in the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. The world's largest IMAX 3D cinema screen is located in Sydney, Australia

Regal Entertainment Group is the largest movie theatre chain in North America, operating 6,423 screens in 529 locations in 41 U.S. states.