MUMBAI: Digital cinema company Barco and 20th Century Fox have inked a five year, multi-title per year agreement to release movies in Barco’s multi-screen, fully immersive movie format Barco Escape.
Fox will be working with its filmmakers to produce new projects for the format beginning with the September release of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
As part of the deal, a Barco Escape setup will be installed in a theater on the 20th Century Fox studio lot.
Fox was an early endorser of the Barco Escape technology, working hand in hand with Barco throughout the last year to further develop the format and showcase new theatrical content to audiences. Director Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner was the first film to release in Barco Escape, featuring approximately 10 minutes of footage in the format. It debuted at five Barco Escape Cinemark theaters in the US and two Barco Escape Kinepolis theaters in Belgium. For The Scorch Trials,Barco is targeting 25 locations, and Fox is targeting approximately 20 minutes of the film to be converted into the format.
“The audience reaction from the Barco Escape footage on The Maze Runner was overwhelmingly positive. We started working with Barco on this technology because we believe immersive experiences are the future of cinema. Now that Barco has upgraded its Barco Escape systems to be fully DCI compliant, we are further interested in finding tent pole movies for the format that will inspire audiences to leave their homes and go to the theater to share in this unique experience,” says 20th Century Fox president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson.
“Twentieth Century Fox has been an incredible partner for Barco Escape from the very beginning. The common theme from audiences that saw The Maze Runner with select scenes in Barco Escape was ‘we want more!’ We are thrilled to extend our relationship with the studio and its filmmakers to continue pushing the envelope and creating these new cinema experiences you can’t get anywhere else,” added Barco VP of global entertainment Todd Hoddick.
Barco Escape’s next project, a special performance event with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga filmed natively for the format, will be released later this year.
