Tech's storytelling evolution
Business Standard|September 17, 2024
After years of flirting with it and embellishing it, is technology about to overwhelm storytelling? IMAX, an immersive screen experience designed in the sixties, was used largely by museums and to make natural history documentaries.
VANITA KOHLI-KHANDEKAR

After an investment banking firm he ran with a partner acquired IMAX in 1994, lawyer/entrepreneur Richard Gelfond, now chief executive officer, came on board. It was almost impossible to get mainstream studios and theatre chains to use the technology that was wonderful to watch movies on, but was clunky and expensive. In 2001, an in-house algorithm that allowed reformatting regular films to IMAX helped push costs down. That is around the time theatres began digitising and filmmakers also started using IMAX equipment for making films.

By 2006, films like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Happy Feet and Transformers, made the IMAX format less of an oddity. James Cameron's science fiction superhit Avatar (2009) mainstreamed it completely. The 163 IMAX screens (then) brought in roughly $250 million (9 per cent) of the almost $3 billion the film grossed globally. By 2023, the technology was available in 1,705 screens over the world - less than one per cent of the total. Yet it brought in over 3.5 per cent (over a billion dollars) of the global box office. That is because people are willing to pay three to five times the price of a regular ticket to watch an "IMAX" film.

This story is from the September 17, 2024 edition of Business Standard.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 17, 2024 edition of Business Standard.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM BUSINESS STANDARDView All
IT stocks suffer biggest one-day fall in six weeks
Business Standard

IT stocks suffer biggest one-day fall in six weeks

Accenture promotion delay, past Fed rate cuts cited

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024
Business Standard

Cabinet clears 'One Nation, One Poll' and host of proposals in farm to space

Soon after completing 100 days in office, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has taken a series of decisions that would have political and economic implications for the country.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 19, 2024
Tata Power to scale up internal RE component supply chain
Business Standard

Tata Power to scale up internal RE component supply chain

Plans to manufacture key parts rather than buying them

time-read
1 min  |
September 19, 2024
Business Standard

IT staffers' FY25 salary hikes may be 5.5-8%

Experts say top performers may continue to see increases ranging from 12-18%

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024
Business Standard

RInfra pares debt by 87% to ₹475 cr

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) and its subsidiary Reliance Power (RPower) have cleared a major part of their debt, with RInfra reducing its standalone external borrowing by almost 87.6 per cent to ₹475 crore, down from ₹3,831 crore as on June, according to stock exchange notices.

time-read
1 min  |
September 19, 2024
'No plans to phase out Kwid until rules allow'
Business Standard

'No plans to phase out Kwid until rules allow'

Renault India, which saw a 33 per cent decline in sales in 2023, is facing a challenging 2024. The company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer VENKATRAM MAMILLAPALLE, discusses the firm's revival plans, launch strategy, and the future of the Kwid in an interaction with Shine Jacob in Chennai. Edited excerpts:

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024
25-year-old company veteran Samir Kumar has cart full as he takes reins at Amazon India
Business Standard

25-year-old company veteran Samir Kumar has cart full as he takes reins at Amazon India

Amazon has announced that Samir Kumar, a 25-year veteran of the company, will assume the role of head of its India consumer business effective October 1, 2024.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024
ZEEL refutes $940 mn Disney Star claim over ICC TV rights deal
Business Standard

ZEEL refutes $940 mn Disney Star claim over ICC TV rights deal

Star India on Monday filed a statement of case seeking $940 million damages from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) over the terminated ICC TV rights deal, the latter said in a stock exchange filing.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024
Business Standard

Best option is to double down on mkt strategy: P&G India

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Healthcare (PGHH) and Gillette India (GI), both listed entities of Procter & Gamble India, noted in their investor calls that despite near-term macroeconomic challenges, an above normal monsoon will help revive demand in India.

time-read
1 min  |
September 19, 2024
Business Standard

'Irreparable loss for us': EY India on death of CA

The death of 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil is \"tragic\" and an \"irreparable loss\" for EY India, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 19, 2024