IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Superman Returns, directed by Bryan Singer, will become the world’s first live-action Hollywood feature to be converted from 2D to IMAX® 3D. IMAX Corporation will use its proprietary 2D to 3D conversion technology to convert approximately 20 minutes of the film into An IMAX 3D Experience®, the most immersive cinematic 3D in the world.
“Releasing select sequences of ‘Superman Returns’ in IMAX 3D marks a groundbreaking moment in movies,” said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures. “This film is going to give fans an opportunity to be immersed in a major live-action motion picture like never before.”
The epic action-adventure directed by Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” The Usual Suspects), will be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® through IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-Mastering) technology. The film will be simultaneously released to IMAX® and conventional theatres on June 30, 2006. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to the growing IMAX theatre network worldwide.
“The test scenes that have been converted into IMAX 3D look, sound and feel absolutely amazing,” added Bryan Singer, director of Superman Returns. “The magic of IMAX 3D will envelop audiences in this story, enabling them to feel the emotion, drama and suspense in a completely new and unique way.”
During select sequences of the film, a visual cue designed by Singer will indicate when audiences should put on and remove their IMAX 3D glasses.
“We are delighted to partner with pioneering visionaries Bryan Singer and Warner Bros. Pictures to transform part of this highly anticipated release into An IMAX 3D Experience,” said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. “Today’s announcement is a culmination of a great film, a great filmmaker, a great studio, and great technology – all working together to produce the most powerful and immersive cinematic experience available to moviegoers worldwide.”
“Five out of the seven films in our 2006 line up now feature IMAX 3D,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We are thrilled that moviegoers will be able to experience Bryan Singer’s unique and exhilarating vision. Through the magic of IMAX 3D, they will feel as if they are actually flying alongside the man of steel, weaving in and out of Metropolis.”
Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure Superman Returns, a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world’s most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman’s bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.
Superman Returns stars Brandon Routh (Clark Kent/Superman), Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Hugh Laurie, Sam Huntington and Eva Marie Saint. The film was written by Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty; produced by Gilbert Adler, Jon Peters and Bryan Singer; co-produced by Stephen Jones; and executive produced by Chris Lee.
Source: IMAX Corporation
