Ballantyne of Omaha, Inc. (Amex: BTN), a provider of motion picture projection, digital cinema and cinema screen equipment and services, announced today that Marcus Theatres®, a division of The Marcus Corporation (NYSE: MCS) and seventh largest U.S. theatre circuit, has purchased thirteen NEC STARUS™ NC2500S Digital Cinema projector systems from Ballantyne’s Strong Digital Systems (SDS) division. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The systems are being deployed in cinema complexes in six different states as Marcus expands its installed base of digital projectors and 3-D digital capabilities. Four of the thirteen systems were already installed for purposes of evaluation, and the remaining nine projectors should be installed over the next month. The purchases are planned to support the July 11th release of New Line Cinema’s feature 3-D film Journey To The Center Of The Earth.
John P. Wilmers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ballantyne of Omaha, commented, “Marcus Theatres is a prime customer of our Company that we have worked closely with for over twenty years. We are pleased to extend our relationship with them through this sale and welcome the industry leadership Marcus is demonstrating through their investment in digital projection technology. We are confident that armed with state-of-the-art NEC STARUS digital projectors with 3-D capabilities, Marcus Theatres will provide one of the best theater experiences available in the market today.”