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Big screen to get BIGGER with IMAX at Sheffield Cineworld
Imax Cinema
THE big screen experience is about to get a whole lot bigger in South Yorkshire - with the first giant-sized IMAX screen under construction at Sheffield’s Cineworld, writes digital editor Graham Walker
And cinema-goers will not believe their eyes or ears when they experience Batman, Spider-man and other new blockbuster movies bursting out of the screen in glorious 3D, say bosses at the at Valley Centertainment complex.
The screen itself, one of the biggest IMAX screens anywhere, will be a massive 70ft wide and 39ft 5in high - more than two-and-a-half times the length of a double-decker bus and not far off three times as high.
The screen - currently under construction in the cinema’s largest 585-seat Screen Seven auditorium - is also being brought closer to the audience and curves slightly, to fill the viewer’s entire peripheral vision.
So when you are sitting in your seat you simply cannot see anything but the screen. All in high definition.
Then add 3D and the latest state-of-the-art digital surround sound and as Andy Meakin, Sheffield’s Cineworld operations manager, says: “You don’t feel like you’re just watching the film - you feel you’re actually in it.
“I’ve just been to a preview at our Edinburgh branch.
“One of the trailers I was shown was for the new Men In Black movie, where somebody jumps off the side of a building. It was as though you could feel the ground rushing up towards you. And the sound on impact was amazing
“I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
Sheffield cinema audiences brave enough can give it a go when new sci-fi action adventure John Carter makes IMAX history there, on Friday, March 9, at 11.30am.
But first, the cinema has to get the two-ton IMAX projector into the building - it is so big it will be craned in through the roof next week.
Audiences will have to pay for the privilege of watching IMAX films, with tickets at £12.40 for adults, or £10.20 for seniors and students - £4.50 more than the standard price - although 3D glasses, which must be returned, will be free.
Andy believes it will be so popular that tickets to guarantee a seat for the IMAX screenings will have to be booked in advance - especially as Sheffield’s Cineworld is one of the country’s most popular cinemas, with about 1.8 million visits a year.
Movie fans will be spoilt for IMAX features which this year including Titanic 3D, Wrath of the Titans 3D, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-man, new Batman film Dark Knight Rises and the next James Bond blockbuster, Skyfall.
For information and bookings visit www.cineworld.co.uk
n Keep reading The Star for your chance to attend the John Carter IMAX gala launch night at Sheffield Cineworld.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
seenitall
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 09:17 AMI only go to the cinema on a few occasions a year.... buying cheapo early morning tickets and generally enjoying the experience....which is still much better than watching a film on your box at home.You really don't have to pay the exhorbitant snack prices...take your own.... or go into Lidl and buy some. I remember the old days at the 'bug-huts' when the cost of a ticket was less than a 'bob'...with continuous performances and everyone rushing out before the national anthem....Back in those days ,cinemas were often for courting couples and the back row was reserved for them!....I doubt 3D or Imex would have bothered them!
Sir Taxedalot
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 05:16 PMIMAX is an amazing experience. I've been to a few and they always impress. it'll be great to have one locally and hopefully none of the grumpy old codgers like Ukip will be there tutting about how everything was better in their day.
WALLDANZIG1
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 02:43 PM@ukip get a grip will you it's IMAX....Worksop is having it's own Cinema so what who cares and as for the roads are nicer that matters what to Cinema. Please stay in Worksop and take your cousinwife to the cinema there. I personally think this is brilliant and will gladly pay to see those special films such as Batman on IMAX this is a great move for the cinema and is something the downloaders just cant get at home.
Ukip
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 01:54 PMWorksop are now building their own cinema which will be open next month, so rather than spending as much on petrol and struggling to park at Cineworld, I will go else where. I think admission prices will be cheaper in a more modern cinema. I also find the roads in Nottingham smoother to drive on.
kayte
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 01:33 PMI remember seeing IMAX over 20 years ago at the Photography Museum in Bradford and it was pretty impressive. But as Ukip says the prices for this cinema are going to be high - and add to them the exhorbitant cost of refreshments at Cineworld (I recently paid £2.50 for a small bottle of water!) I think that for me a visit to the facility will be a rare treat rather than a regular occurrence!
Ukip
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 11:14 AMThe old cinema's that used to seat 2000 in Sheffield used to have massive screens. If the cinema industry isn't careful, it is pricing itself out of the market. It now costs £8 to go to the cinema, 10 years ago it was only £5. Go to B&M round the corner for your sweets and consider Sky movies, which is only £20 a month.
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