Brooklyn’s first IMAX theater opened last week in Sheepshead Bay, giving borough moviegoers an immersive cinematic experience that previously was only available in Manhattan.
As first reported in this paper, The United Artists Sheepshead Bay has been in the process of converting one of its 14 existing auditoriums into an IMAX theater, known for a massive screen, superior sound quality and high-end digital effects.
Tickets went on sale on Oct. 24 for “Eagle Eye: The IMAX Experience.” The thriller stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan.
The upcoming slate of IMAX films includes “Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and “Monsters vs. Aliens.”
The theater will also offer IMAX 3D, said to create the feeling of being enveloped inside a film.
“We are extremely pleased to open our newest IMAX locations and to utilize the new IMAX Digital projection system at these theatres,” said Dick Westerling, Regal Entertainment Group’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising.
Westerling predicted Brooklynites will be impressed.
“Regal Entertainment Group is confident that The IMAX Experience will impress our moviegoers with this extraordinary presentation,” he added.
The project is part of a joint-venture between Regal Entertainment Group and IMAX, which will increase Regal’s total number of IMAX theatres to 52 by the end of 2010.
The Brooklyn opening comes 14 years after the city’s first IMAX theater opened in Lincoln Square, on Broadway in Manhattan. Officials did not disclose the cost of the conversion.
IMAX uses the largest film frame in the world—ten times larger than the standard film frame used to show regular movies. The result is a sharper picture.
When an auditorium is converted, the special IMAX curved screen is moved closer to the audience to maximize the field of view, according to an IMAX spokesperson.
