Kaleidescape and Dolby Make Major Commercial Cinema Announcements at CinemaCon 24

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(April 8, 2024) Kaleidescape and "commercial cinema" aren't typically words uttered in the same breath, as the company has spent decades embedding itself as a leading source in home theater rooms and luxury yachts worldwide. That's about to change, however, as Kaleidescape is using the grand stage of Cinemacon 2024 to announce its expansion into the commercial realm.

“Kaleidescape’s secure media platform provides operational ease by enhancing flexibility and scalability for the exhibitor and offering access to a diverse array of content for their customers,” said Priscilla Morgan, COO, Kaleidescape. “Much gratitude goes to our studio, exhibition, and technology partners for their innovation in embracing a new content delivery platform.”

Exhibitors including Alamo Drafthouse, B&B Theatres, Brenden Theatres, Cinema West, Classic Cinemas, Epic Theatres, Megaplex Theatres, and Star Cinema Grill have all agreed to pilot the Kaleidescape platform in establishments. At the same time, Kaleidescape has landed an agreement with one major Hollywood Studio and is in active discussions with several others. These moves have created the perfect storm for the company to position itself as an alternative method of bringing catalog favorites back to the big screen.

Kaleidescape's stable of equipment offerings translates well from home to commercial environments, and can use the same projectors and audio solutions already installed. For studios, this means Kaleidescape's secure delivery method can be used to push content back into large theaters. And for cinemas, the company's vast library will quickly become the fuel needed to create special events, screenings, and marathons delivered through instant on-demand access to content.

“Kaleidescape’s platform is a potential game changer for exhibitors, allowing easy activation of excess screen capacity, bringing a steady slate of library titles on demand,” said Tony Adamson, senior vice president for GDC Technology. “I am excited that GDC is the first TMS (Theater Management System) provider to integrate with the Kaleidescape platform.”

In other theater news, Dolby has announced plans to bring Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to even more commercial theaters around the world. You might be familiar with Dolby Cinema branded venues, which deliver images laced with wonderful contrast and audio etched by deep bass and expansive atmospherics, all within Dolby-designed environments. Now, Dolby is exploring ways to give Atmos-equipped cinemas access to Dolby Vision projectors. It's a move to get the Dolby experience into as many theaters as possible, which theoretically should boost ticket sales. According to Dolby, Dolby Cinemas generates the highest average per screen box office amongst all premium large format offerings.

"At Dolby, our passion is creating immersive entertainment experiences, and we can't wait to bring the transformative power of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to even more theaters around the world," said Jed Harmsen, Head of Cinema and Group Entertainment at Dolby. "Coming off of Dolby Cinema's strongest year at the box office, we're thrilled to provide exhibitors this new offering, which will unlock significantly greater opportunities for moviegoers around the world to love movies more in Dolby at premium theaters."

Over 600 theatrical features have been released or are confirmed to be in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, including hits like Dune: Part Two, Barbie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and more. This year also marked a particularly historic year for Dolby in cinema, as Dolby innovations – the Dolby Atmos Cinema Sound System and the Christie E3LH Dolby Vision Cinema Projection System – were honored with two major awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the prestigious Scientific and Technical Awards, which celebrate groundbreaking innovations in cinema.

Since the first Dolby Cinema opened a decade ago, it's rapidly grown, forging relationships with 28 exhibitor partners in 14 countries. 2023 marked Dolby Cinema's best year yet, with domestic ticket sales surpassing pre-pandemic levels – up 7-percent from 2019. July 21-23 was the biggest weekend of all time for Dolby Cinema, driven by blockbuster powerhouses Barbie and Oppenheimer.


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This makes so much sense. Everybody wins.
 
Kudos to KScape, I hope they don't forget about us little guys while they start to focus on the commercial side
 
Kudos to KScape, I hope they don't forget about us little guys while they start to focus on the commercial side
There may not be a ton of Kaleidescape owners (i.e. little guys), but there are even fewer commercial theaters. If anything, if this is a successful venture, it should hopefully help convince some of those boutique studios to begin offering their content in Kaleidescape (I'M LOOKING AT YOU SHOUT! STUDIOS ----- RIGHT IN THE EYE). An easy way to generate some theatrical box office to their 4K remastering efforts.
 
Maybe they will have a bumper at the start of the movie that says "Brought to you by Kaleidescape"
 
I did not realize the movie theaters had picked back up to where they are doing that well. It seems most of them that shut down during Covid haven't been able to recover. The only one we had around here closed up permanently at the end of 2020, after reopening with social distancing policies for a short while.
 
I did not realize the movie theaters had picked back up to where they are doing that well. It seems most of them that shut down during Covid haven't been able to recover. The only one we had around here closed up permanently at the end of 2020, after reopening with social distancing policies for a short while.
They didn't, which is why this new revenue opportunity is such a good partnership. It opens up the ability to offer more content for matinees or lock-out screenings. Take your kids and all their friends to a Star Wars marathon, or Back to the Future. Or rent out a theater for a screening of Casablanca or The Matrix or whatever movie. Not so appealing for those of us with theaters, but a fun opportunity for those who don't to watch non-new releases on the big screen.
 
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Also, important to keep in mind that Dolby’s 7% increase in Dolby Cinemas is… in those theaters only. I’m sure it’s a different story if you lump all theaters together.
 
I love this move by Kscape. Great potential revenue stream for them… but it could give theaters a ton of flexibility. We have a theater in our neighborhood that’s been running 80s movies on Wednesday nights. It’s been really popular… just imagine having almost instant access a large catalog of older films. It’s a big opportunity for all parties involved, not to mention movie fans
 
I love the thought of going to the theaters to see older movies. This could be awesome, I hope it is wildly successful.
 
I cringe at the thought of going to a commercial movie theater. It was a thing when I was young, but the older I got and the few times I went to various theaters, it was not a fun experience and sounded terrible. Now that I have my own theater, no way I'd go. I can see where it might appeal to some folks; I just won't ever be one of those.
 
I never had a high quality theater around me until I was in my mid-20's. Due to that, I never went to the theater for the best picture and sound, I went for the experience of "going to the movies". The popcorn, the people, etc. I still love it for those reasons. My home setup has always been as good or better than my local theater's. Not because my home setup is that good, but because my theater's were that bad.
 
That's the issue with ours... just not that good, or really not good at all. We went to one in Montgomery many years ago that was supposed to be a good one, and it was loud and obnoxious and sounded extremely harsh. Angie and I both had a bad experience. Of course, cokes and popcorn are outrageously overpriced, and you never know who has sat in the seat before you or what's on the seat or armrests. :sick:
 
You're giving me second thoughts, Sonnie.... :gulp:
 
I cringe at the thought of going to a commercial movie theater. It was a thing when I was young, but the older I got and the few times I went to various theaters, it was not a fun experience and sounded terrible. Now that I have my own theater, no way I'd go. I can see where it might appeal to some folks; I just won't ever be one of those.
Hmm, someone hasn't been to a Dolby Cinema before ;)
 
Hmm, someone hasn't been to a Dolby Cinema before ;)
Do they keep those cleaner than others (pick the boogers off the chairs from those snotty nose kids - some grown-ups too), and is the concession cost lower? :sarcastic:
 
Do they keep those cleaner than others (pick the boogers off the chairs from those snotty nose kids - some grown-ups too), and is the concession cost lower? :sarcastic:

Thanks for that image. As soon as it leaves my mind I’ll go to the theater again!

The last couple of times I’ve been to a theater there haven’t been any kids around at all. Not sure that’s entirely a good thing though.

I applaud Kaleidescape for any help they can bring to the industry.
 
Do they keep those cleaner than others (pick the boogers off the chairs from those snotty nose kids - some grown-ups too), and is the concession cost lower? :sarcastic:
They are very clean and nice, at least to the few different ones that I've been to. Since it's Dolby's branding I think they make sure everything is in good order as much as possible
 
We have a Dolby Cinema nearby... I've gone to see two movies. It was really nice!

Here in my neighborhood, we have a Cineopolis. It was recently built. Very nice experience. Big comfortable chairs. Audio is relatively good. Picture quality isn't quite as good as a Dolby Cinema, but good enough.

My problem is: I'm not always that motivated to go, even though I can walk to it in 10 min!
 
Fantastic news. Hopefully, this will also be a catalyst for Kscape to actually onboard more studios it has yet to add. Neon, Netflix, etc. The very limited K-scape catalog is its weakest area. Also great I properly introduced Tim League to the K-scape here at the house last year. Perhaps that was a catalyst for this news. I will have to ask. Cheers,
 
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