Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 15, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For the July 1 cinema launch of “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” CineStar Group is opening ten FirstStar auditoriums, offering digital 3D cinema at ten German locations. Germany’s largest cinema operator invested around €1.4 million to equip one auditorium per site with high-quality RealD technology. The sites are CUBIX at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Kristall-Palast Bremen, Lübeck Stadthalle, CineStar Dortmund, CineStar Metropolis Frankfurt, film palaces in Ingolstadt, Leipzig and Mainz, Filmpalast im ZKM Karlsruhe and Filmpalast Oberhausen at Centro.
“Implementing this revolutionary technology is an investment in our company’s future viability and will definitely pay off,” says Oliver Fock, Registered Managing Director of CineStar Group. RealD offers not only brilliant colours and a razor-sharp, fascinatingly three-dimensional image; the technology transports viewers into the middle of the film’s action. The authentic spatial effect is created by viewing the same object—in this case, the large-screen image—from two slightly offset perspectives.
Modern 3D films are therefore shot with two cameras, and two slightly offset images are projected onto a special cinema screen. Each visitor receives special glasses separating the images and creating the 3D effect. Despite the financial crisis, the average investment of €140,000 per location is considered sensible now. “The spectacular 3D version of ‘Ice Age 3,’ which we show from July 1, is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate to guests young and old what FirstStar stands for: the best entertainment, generating spontaneous enthusiasm,” Fock says. FirstStar auditoriums are also strategically important as cinemas open to alternative content. Alongside 3D productions such as “Ice Age,” “Up” and “Avatar,” they are intended to show innovative content such as live broadcasts of operas and sporting events.
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