These next few years are packed full of the most highly anticipated movie releases. The new Star Wars movies, the new Marvel movies, Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action offerings like Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and the next Alice in Wonderland. All of these have movie lovers aching to throw their money at the box office. As if this slate of upcoming titles couldn’t get any better, IMAX has just announced a massive renewal deal to make your movie-going experience all the more enticing.
According to a press release, Disney has struck a deal to continue providing IMAX offerings all the way through 2017. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the bigger screens will make all the difference. For Star Wars, this means that Star Wars: Episode 7 (which was already announced in IMAX), Episode 8 and the first standalone spinoff, Rogue One, will be getting the IMAX treatment. For Marvel, that includes Ant-Man with Paul Rudd, the showdown between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch, more Groot and Rocket action in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and the Asgardian end of days in Thor: Ragnarok.
The Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, and Toy Story 4 are representing Pixar in this IMAX deal, while The Finest Hours, Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, The Jungle Book and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales hail from the Walt Disney Pictures camp. Of all the releases listed here, only Toy Story 4 will have a limited release in IMAX.
According to a statement from IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond, IMAX has helped release 25 Disney titles in theaters since 2009, and this deal renewal speaks of a more fruitful relationship in the future. IMAX screens continue to become the norm, though I would suggest seeking out the real IMAX experience, if you know what I mean. Not all IMAX screens are created equal. There are the significantly smaller venues that bear the logo, and there are the IMAX Digital, which can sometimes be worth the experience. But then there are the massive screens that take up multiple stories and truly immerse you in the cinematic world, which is perfect for visually impactful films like Star Wars, Civil War and Alice in Wonderland. The AMC Loews Theater in New York City, for instance, is one of the largest IMAX locations in the country; the screen stands at 76-feet high. Still, the smaller screens still have their place with 70mm.
While it's easy to get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about all the incredible offerings we'll be getting down the road, there's still lots to see in 2015. The coming weeks will see Avengers: Age of Ultron, while Episode 7, the new Mad Max, Jurassic World, the next Terminator and the final Hunger Games movie are all slated for IMAX distribution.
