Posted 6/9/09.
Harry Potter IMAX Opening Delayed
The release of the IMAX version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince has been pushed back to July 29, two weeks after the film's wide
release in conventional theaters on June 15. Only two IMAX theaters, one
in New York City and one in Los Angeles, will open the film day and
date. According to a story from the Associated Press, the delay is
required by a five-week exclusivity agreement Imax Corporation made
with Paramount Pictures for
Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen, which
opens on June 24.
Imax shares fell nearly 5% yesterday on the news, to close at $7.31.
As with the last Harry Potter installment, several scenes in
Half-Blood Prince have been digitally converted to 3D exclusively for
the IMAX release.
With one exception, this is the first time since Spider-Man 3 in July
2004 that a DMR film has not premiered simultaneously with its
conventional release. The exception was the first Transformers film,
which filled the September 2007 slot, ten weeks after its conventional
opening, when the Rolling Stones' Shine a Light was unexpectedly
delayed.
In unrelated news, Transformers director Michael Bay told fans on the
official Transformers Web site that the IMAX edition of this year's
sequel, which includes four scenes shot with IMAX cameras, will be a few
minutes longer than the conventional version.
The Summer issue of LF Examiner, to be published in the first week of
July, will have more details on this story.
