IMAX Corporation announced last week that director John Woo will work with them to digitally remaster his next film Flying Tigers. Following Aftershock, the film will be the second Chinese feature to be adapted to the 20 x 14 meter screen format.

Imax theater in China National Film Museum [CFP/China.org.cn]

 

"We expect Flying Tigers to be the most important film for China Film Group in 2011," said chairman of the group Han Sanping.

Although IMAX is recognized throughout the world, establishing relationships with top Chinese filmmakers remains an important part of IMAX's growth in China, according to Richard Gelfond, CEO of Canadian IMAX.

"The cooperation with John Woo is expected to continue our recent box office success in the Chinese market," Gelfond said, referring to Aftershock whose IMAX Chinese box office hit $640,000 in its first week, with the film now in its seventh week. There are about 450 IMAX theaters across the globe with China currently boasting 26 IMAX cinemas, after opening its first at Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in 2001. The company plans to have more than 50 IMAX theaters by 2012, Zhou Huimei, vice president of IMAX for Asian and Pacifi c regions, told the Global Times. A total of 31 commercial theaters should be open by 2011, according to chinafilm.com.

There are currently 18 IMAX theaters under construction, with many in smaller cities such as Chongqing and Nanjing.

"The success of Avatar (shown in IMAX) introduced IMAX to many Chinese people and also prepared numerous potential customers for IMAX theaters," Liu Hui, assistant manager of Beijing's UME Huaxing International Cineplex, the first IMAX theater in the capital, told the Global Times. Four IMAX theaters, two in Shanghai and two in Hangzhou, were built after Avatar was screened and are already in operation.

Although Avatar saw millions of people line-up for a highly-priced ticket to watch the film on IMAX, Liu said that this doesn't mean that building an IMAX theater is a license to print money or a guarantee of similar results in the future.

"Avatar is an exception and its success doesn't apply to every IMAX film," Liu said. "The strong special effects and good quality of Avatar on the IMAX screen impressed the audience, not the IMAX facilities themselves." The lack of IMAX-formatted films to show on the huge screen is also a problem facing local theaters.