IMAX Russia

IMAX cinemas host screenings of paintings by leading directors and film studios using patented IMAX, IMAX 3D and IMAX DMR technologies. IMAX DMR technology allows you to digitally convert almost any movie to a format with unique image and sound quality that creates the "IMAX Effect."

History

2023: Domestic counterpart developed

The largest film distributor in Russia, Central Partnership (TsPSh, part of Gazprom-Media), has developed a new cinema format, which is similar in characteristics to the popular IMAX. The new technology was called Cosmax, the company's CEO Vadim Vereshchagin said at the end of March 2023. Read more here.

2022: Ban on showing films in IMAX format in the Russian Federation

The Canadian company IMAX has banned the use of the eponymous format in Russia for showing domestic films. According to Alexei Vasyasin, general director of the united cinema network Cinema Park and Formula Kino, the equipment for the screenings belongs to the distributors, but the company's consent is necessary to use the format. He spoke about this in an interview with RBC, which was published on August 23, 2022.

Technically, a projector can show any film. Another question is that you cannot show a movie in IMAX format without IMAX permission. Even Russian films in this format - "Upward Movement," "Stalingrad" - now, unfortunately, we cannot show, because there is a direct ban on the use of the format by the company, Vasyasin said.

In the Russian Federation banned the screening of films in IMAX format

At the same time, he expressed confidence that IMAX will return to the Russian market at the first opportunity. But in this case, the distributor intends to revise the conditions to exclude the possibility of unilateral care. Vasyasin clarified that if IMAX does not return, then the cinema network will sue the company.

We have a very tough contract with them, according to which they are obliged to work here. If by the end of this 2022 they do not remember this contract, there will be a court, - said the general director.

He added that it is planned to show movies in a different format on IMAX equipment.

IMAX left the Russian market on June 1, 2022. The company owned about 50 cinema halls in Russia, which have provided about three percent of total revenue over the past five years. The IMAX film format allows you to make the image brighter and clearer, creating a immersive effect for viewers due to the larger scale and special screen length, more human field of view. The technology is patented by the Canadian company IMAX.^[1]

Notes