Tag Archives: Cinemark

Universal and Disney Close To VPF Deal With DCIP

September 8, 2008

And then there were four. Four studios that is. Or so says the Wall Street Journal which broke a story today reporting that Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Company have reached a virtual print fee deal with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, the joint venture formed by North American exhibitors Regal Entertainment, Cinemark and AMC Entertainment to finance, install and maintain digital cinema equipment in their theatres. The three chains, which represent a combined screen count of around 15,000, would like to start rolling out digital cinema as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, in time for the flood of 3D movies studios have slated for release next year.

Previously, DCIP had reached a VPF deal with Twentieth Century Fox, though the studio has never confirmed the news. The signing of four studios is a crucial milestone which DCIP must cross in order to secure the USD $1 billion in financing the company has lined up from J.P. Morgan Chase to pay for all the expensive digital cinema equipment required to outfit theatres. The Wall Street Journal had reported that Paramount Pictures had also signed a VPF agreement with DCIP, which had been rumored in the press but never officially announced. Indeed, by the end of the day Variety had taken the air out of the Wall Street Journal’s big scoop by confirming that Paramount Pictures had not yet signed with DCIP. Read More »

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DCIP Reaches VPF Agreement With Fox

By J. Sperling Reich

July 25, 2008

After industrywide speculation and concern over the absence of any news about virtual print fee (VPF) agreements being signed by Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) the company finally announced their first deal which rumor has it is with Twentieth Century Fox. The news was reported by Reuters and has not yet been made official by DCIP, however the company’s CEO, Travis Reid was quoted as saying:

“A party has signed a deal and we think it won’t be long until we have multiple studios.”

There are no details yet about the terms of the deal, nor any confirmation that it is with Fox, though during a conference call on Thursday Regal Entertainment’s CEO confirmed that a VPF agreement had been reached with at least one studio:

“We can’t disclose which studio, but we consider it to be a major milestone. It is always difficult in getting someone to be willing to be the first.”

Paramount is also rumored to be close to announcing a deal with DCIP, as is Walt Disney Studios.

DCIP was formed by North America’s three largest exhibitors - AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment - to manage and finance the rollout of digital cinema equipment and technology within each circuit. With 14,000 screens between them it is easy to see why the industry eagerly awaited news that the studios had come to some form of agreement with DCIP to subsidize the cost of installing digital cinema equipment. Due to the large size of the rollout, such a deal was viewed as a bellwether for the types of VPF deals other exhibitors would be able to get. Recent VPF deals announced by other integrators such as AccessIT in the United States and XDC in Europe did little quell everyone’s anticipation over news from DCIP.

No doubt even DCIP was getting a little anxious over the lack of progress on their VPF agreements they were able to make public. The company was founded in February of 2007 by the three theater chains and had hoped to wrap up their negotiations with studios over VPFs by the end of last year. As almost anyone working in or following the industry now knows, the studios began playing hardball with integrators such as DCIP on the contractual terms of the VPF agreements, haggling over every last detail including usage fees for alternative content and the length of the deal. XDC’s VPF with Hollywood studios is reportedly only USD $850 per film, per run.

And there’s one main reason that the rollout of digital cinema has stalled at around 5,000 screens in North America (out of 37,000); rolling stock prints range from USD $1,200 to $1,500 so even with VPFs the the distributors save heaps of money, whereas exhibitors are forced to pay for expensive digital cinema equipment they claim won’t save them any money or increase their revenue. That the standards for this equipment are still being determined by SMPTE and DCI hasn’t helped matters either.

However, in 2009 Hollywood studios plan to release upwards of 11 movies in digital 3D which will require the equipment to be installed on a broader scale. Presently the number of screens equipped for digital 3D in North America hovers around 1,300, making it difficult to release two such films into the market at the same time. News of the DCIP deal may be a relief for a few studio executives have otherwise to struggle to find enough digital screens to place their 3D releases on. Studios have actually begun to push some of their 3D releases back into 2010 to make certain they will have enough screens to put them on.

The thinking within the industry is that once DCIP starts announcing VPF agreements the rollout of digital cinema should ramp up soon thereafter. Michael Lewis, chief executive of 3D systems provider RealD, told Reuters:

“When the DCIP deal drops, then digital cinema is really on its way.”

Here’s to hoping Mr. Lewis is also fortune teller.

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RealD puts digital 3D on really big screens

By Patrick von Sychowski

November 14, 2007

There is only one place you won’t be able to watch ‘Beowulf‘ in 3D this weekend and that is at a really big conventional cinema screens. That is because stereoscopic cinema technology is ‘light eater’, which means that if you want to watch it on something larger than a 45-foot screen you have to watch the Imax version, or else the film will be as dark as Grendel’s mother’s lair at midnight without a torch. This presents an obvious problem to exhibitor who want to showcase ‘Beowulf’ and other future digital 3D films on their flagship screen.

Now digital 3D technology front runner RealD claims to have overcome this problem. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Real D CEO Michael Lewis said the challenge of light has until now resulted in missed opportunities, noting that the problem was keeping 3-D from being a viable option in about 15%-20% of domestic screens — those being the largest.

Added Greer, “Now we get demands from our exhibitors saying that they want to be in the biggest house, and we have to say no because we want to make sure there is enough light on the screen.”

Today, projection of 3-D imagery on larger screens typically is accomplished with two d-cinema projectors stacked one on top of the other and used simultaneously. But acquiring and maintaining two d-cinema projectors for a single auditorium is not practical for exhibitors.

Real D expects to have the modified 3-D systems for larger theaters and incorporating this new technology available in 2008.

According to RealD this new technology should allow it to light up screens as large as 70 feet. However, they do not go into how many footlamberts they would be able to throw on such a screen, which is likely to be far short of the specified 14 fLs. It would be an interesting shoot-out between the competing digital 3D technologies (RealD, Dolby 3D and active glasses from the likes of NuVision) to see which one eats the most light.

Someone who has opted for Dolby over RealD is Belgian and pan-European exhibitor Kinepolis, who has just revealed its digital 3D plans for ‘Beowulf’ and early 2008 ‘Fly Me To The Moon‘. From the press release:

So far, 17 Kinepolis complexes have equipped one auditorium each with a Dolby® 3D Digital Cinema system: all the Kinepolis complexes in Belgium (10) and in France (6) and the Spanish megaplex Kinepolis Madrid. Beowulf 3D is scheduled to be released this month. The Belgium world premiere of Fly me to the Moon in 3D is scheduled for January 2008.

So Dolby is catching up with RealD for European digital 3D footprint.

Someone who is heading their bets with regards to digital 3D at the moment is US exhibitor Cinemark, one of the three DCIP partners, who revealed the following about their digital cinema and digital 3D in their Q3 2007 conference call transcript (provided courtesy of Seeking Alpha):

We are excited about the prospects that digital cinema offers and we are actively testing and preparing so that our deployment and implementation of digital cinema is optimized and as smooth as possible from a technological and operational perspective once the DCIP agreements are finalized.

We are also optimistic about the long-term prospects of 3D, a key opportunity of digital.

We are currently using our fully digital theater in Chicago, as well as other local theaters to test multiple 3D technologies that are available. As previously discussed, we have a very deliberate digital rollout strategy, as we believe we will get the most benefit by making sure the negotiations are complete and the technology is established prior to our implementation.

Since digital is a prerequisite to 3D, our 3D rollout will follow our digital rollout strategy. We currently have 39 3D screens. We intend to begin installations in 2008 with our entire circuit converted in approximately three to four years.

In other (minor) digital 3D news, dead-but-still-moving digital cinema vendor company QuVis announces 3D JPEG2000 and QPE support for their server to the exhibition industries complete indifference.

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