BFI IMAX to screen The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience at 2.30am during opening weekend due to demand
Advance ticket sales are highest in the world amongst IMAX cinemas, topping £120,000 with 10,000 tickets sold already
London, 10 July 2008 – Due to the unprecedented demand for tickets, theBFI IMAX has today put on sale three extra shows of The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience, playing at 2.30am during the opening weekend on Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July.
The 485-seater cinema on London's South Bank, is currently No.1 in the world for advance ticket sales for the ground-breaking IMAX version of the film, which opens on Thursday 24 July alongside the nationwide release.
Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, features six sequences filmed with IMAX cameras. This marks the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras, marking a revolutionary integration of the two film formats.
In The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience, sequences shot in traditional 35mm will be digitally re-mastered into The IMAX Experience with IMAX DMR technology. The two formats will be seamlessly integrated and morph between full IMAX and IMAX DMR. In other words, scenes shot in 35mm will appear in IMAX DMR (letterbox), while scenes shot with IMAX's cameras on 15/70mm film will expand vertically to fill the entire screen at the BFI IMAX for an all-encompassing IMAX Experience.
Tickets went on sale at the BFI IMAX last week. In the nine days to date, 10,076 tickets have been sold, grossing £120,732 (US$238,354).
With another two weeks to go before the film opens, sales look set to beat the BFI IMAX all-time best advance sales figure which is £231,050 (US$456,404) and 19,824 tickets sold for Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience in June 2005.
BFI Head of Operations, Justin Johnson comments:
"Advance booking has exceeded even our wildest expectations already. By keeping The Dark Knight playing throughout the night, we can ensure that everyone gets a chance to see the film at the start of its run on the UK's biggest screen. We are seriously considering playing the film 24 hours a day in order to meet demand."
The success of The Dark Knight at the BFI IMAX follows other previous world-beating ticket sales for feature films at the London venue, beginning with The Matrix Reloaded: The IMAX Experience and more recently the 3D films Beowulf 3D and U2 3D.
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For further information please contact:
Jill Reading, BFI Press Office
Tel: 020 7957 4759
E-mail: jill.reading@bfi.org.uk
Notes to editors
About the BFI IMAX
The BFI IMAX is run by the BFI. A state-of-the-art, large-format cinema that can seat up to 485 people, it features a screen more than 20 metres high – the height of five double-decker buses – and stretching more than 26 metres wide. It is the largest cinema screen in the UK. This, together with the 12,000-watt digital surround-sound system and the most sophisticated motion-picture projector in the world, immerses audiences in larger-than-life images and ultra-realistic sound, whether the film is in 2D, 3D or IMAX® DMR™.
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