– US box office is holding up, this weeks thanks to “17”, according to THR.com, “Industry wide, the $107 million weekend represented a 14% improvement over the same frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI. Year to date, 2009 is pacing 8% ahead of last year, at $2.73 billion. The year-over-year improvement appears more modest than it might as the year-ago period boasted an extra winter weekend.”
– Indian multiplexes in Mumbai are turning to theatre in an attempt to offset loos of revenue from the on-going producers boycott, according to BusinessofCinema.com. “Inox Nariman Point will be staging the Divya Palat directed play 26/11 on 19 April at 12 pm. Tickets for the play are priced at Rs 250 and Rs 230.” Meanwhile Fame had previously shown a production of the “Vagina Monologues.”
– Gefen is promoting its digital cinemascaler at NAB. for cinemas that want to show DVDs, Blu Rays, games and PC content. “ AV Cinema Scaler Pro I and II both interface with all digital cinema projectors and integrate flawlessly with digital cinema audio systems.” Both products enable HDMI, DVI, VGA and component video inputs and both digital and analog audio inputs;
– German centre-left SPD party wants to support digital cinema conversion as a means of rescuing cinemas from closure, according to Der Tagesspiegel (in German, Google translation to English here). “The transition from analog to digital projection means for cinema operators that must be retrofitted. The costs are approximately 60 000 euros – per projector. The overwhelmed especially the smaller, financially weak cinemas. These are in Berlin, 58 of 98 cinemas. The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) predicted in a study submitted in March, only 30 percent of them could be the wave of digitization survive if no help measures are initiated. ”
– Disney gave a sneak peak of the upcoming “Toy Story 3D” at NAB, according to Variety. “Custom-animated short shows Woody supervising the Toy Story characters as they improvise a sign for the pic, only to have Buzz upstage them all with a high-tech version. The Mouse House will re-release 3-D versions of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” in a double feature. “Toy Story 3″ bows June 18, 2010.” No word on funding of 3D glasses in the article.
– The Loft Cinema is voted Tuscon’s Best Cinema by Tuscon Weekly’s readers. “The edible fare sits high above the typical multiplex offerings as well. Where else in town can you get a microbrew or two, a slice or three of Fresco pizza, and a Fargo revival?” Sounds like our kind of cinema.
