New Imax cinema to be built at Gateway

Ster-Kinekor has completed an agreement with IMAX Corporation, to install an IMAX theatre at its flagship cinema complex, Ster-Kinekor Gateway, in the Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban, by November this year.

The IMAX Experience incorporates ground-breaking, crystal-clear digital projection, cutting-edge sound technology and a larger curved screen spanning from floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall, providing moviegoers with the world’s most immersive cinematic experience.

“Our promise to our audiences is to continue bringing them great cinema moments at their greatest. It is difficult to envisage a greater moment than watching a blockbuster movie on a massive screen within the world’s most immersive cinema experience. That is what we as Ster-Kinekor and The IMAX Experience will give you,” said CEO of Ster-Kinekor Theatres, Fiaz Mahomed.

“Internationally, IMAX theatres are enjoying renewed success and popularity, and we are confident that our local movie-goers will welcome and support this exciting new development. We will consistently screen Hollywood’s biggest full-length feature films, which is a marked departure from what was previously offered at an IMAX cinema in South Africa.

“We are also exploring showing even more than the latest Hollywood films, such as breathtaking IMAX documentaries and music-based features, when these opportunities present themselves,” said Mahomed.

“The agreement represents the ideal scenario under which to mark IMAX’s first commercial multiplex entry into the country,” said Andrew Cripps, president, IMAX EMEA. “We are delighted to welcome Ster-Kinekor to the IMAX business and believe our partnership will not only raise our visibility in South Africa, but also set the stage for mutual growth opportunities in the region.”

While the initial conversion to an IMAX theatre will be installed at Gateway, the most successful cinema complex in the country, Ster-Kinekor is already considering some of its other sites that could accommodate the larger, floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall screen and complex infrastructure that this giant movie format requires.

Construction on the IMAX theatre at Gateway will start during September. The expected completion date is the first week of November this year, in time for the much-anticipated international release of Marvel’s latest superhero story, Thor: The Dark World.

The second film to be screened will be the popular Hunger Games trilogy: Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The eagerly awaited title, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, will round-up the IMAX releases for this calendar year.

For more information visit www.sterkinekor.com