Paris cinemas stifle Imax’s dream
Low ceilings at aging theatres pose problems
The historic beauty of Paris’s most famous boulevard is posing a problem for Canadian cinema company Imax Corp.
On the hunt for a new site in central Paris to host glitzy European film premières, Imax is finding that theatres along the Champs-Elysees, its ideal location, are just too old for its large-format screens, said Andrew Cripps, head of Imax’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations.
“We’ve looked at all of them, and there’s just not enough height or enough room to do it properly,” Cripps said in a phone interview. “You can’t put a small Imax screen on the Champs-Elysees. It has to be something that is a showcase.”
Imax, which manufactures large-format movie projection systems and digitally remasters films for its curved, extra-big screens, reported record second-quarter sales of $107.2 million US, fuelled by summer blockbusters such as Jurassic World and Furious 7. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company has expanded its European network by about 50 per cent in the last three years to 129 commercial theatres, in addition to sites at museums and planetariums that specialize in nature documentaries.
Screens for Imax-format films are set closer to the audience and are more square in shape than standard, rectangular cinema setups. Those for Imax’s xenon-light projection technology average 20 metres wide for theatres with 357 seats, while its newest laser-based systems allow for 43-metre-wide screens with audiences of almost 1,000.
You can’t put a small Imax screen on the Champs-Elysees. It has to be something that is a showcase.
Existing theatres along the Champs-Elysees don’t offer high enough ceilings, and reconstruction is often blocked because the buildings are under historical protection, Cripps said.
“It’s a very complex discussion and it can be very, very expensive,” he said. “We continue to talk to people in Paris” about options.
Imax is pushing theatre operators to use the laser technology to produce brighter, crisper images. In the past 18 months, Imax has opened xenon-projection screens in Denmark, Estonia and Azerbaijan and signed deals for theatres in Nigeria, Lebanon and Angola.