To do justice to Academy Award-winning
director Peter Jackson’s vision, Christie® has been chosen to supply
the digital cinema/HFR projection technology for the world premiere, to be held
at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, on November 28, 2012.
Two top-of-the-line Christie Solaria® CP2230 series digital projectors
will flood the screen for the highly anticipated film premiere with more than 12
foot lamberts (ft-L) brightness, revealing astonishing detail in the scenery,
costumes and expressions of the characters. The current standard for 3D light levels
on screens is 3 to 4.5 ft-L, while 2D light levels are standardized at 14 ft-L.
The Christie® Duo integration kit combines the intensity of the dual CP2230
projectors.
“With Christie's support, our
Wellington Premiere will present ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ at its
full technical potential – in vibrant, bright High Frame Rate 3-D. I thank Christie for helping
us push the boundaries and give audiences a glimpse into the exciting future of
cinema presentation,” director Peter Jackson said.
Jack Kline, president and
COO, Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., was equally enthusiastic.
“Endorsements from industry leaders like Peter Jackson and Warner Bros.
Pictures, MGM and New Line Cinema compliment Christie’s leadership position in
the visual technology world, which we’ve achieved by consistently delivering
what exhibitors and audiences want.”
Christie’s digital projectors, installed by its Xebex cinema partner,
will also play a leading role in the Tokyo premiere of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” taking place at the Toho
Cinemas in Roppongi Hills on December 1
st, with Mr. Jackson in
attendance.
Christie, Park Road See Fruits of Joint ResearchChristie signed a technology co-operation agreement with Park Road
Post Production Ltd. (“Park Road”) and Weta Digital Ltd. (“Weta”) in April 2012
to work together to advance the state of the art of digital cinema production
and projection, with an emphasis on high frame rate (HFR) delivery.
As part of that
agreement, Park Road and Weta upgraded their facilities with Christie
projectors and provided Christie with review, testing and feedback on new
hardware and software developments related to high-bandwidth interfaces and HFR
technology, as well as sample movie content (consistent with the content
owner’s permission) for Christie to use in testing its projectors and integrated
media block (IMB) units.
“The success of our joint
research and knowledge exchange has led to the creation of the most reliable
high frame rate IMB/projection solution available and this will be evident to
all at ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey’ premiere and beyond,” said Cameron Harland, General Manager, Park
Road, “and using the world’s first totally integrated and commercially
available dual-projection system, we are anticipating a stunning rendition of
the film.”
Christie’s Commitment to HFRThe two main goals of Christie’s HFR activities
are to help the industry develop the best HFR content and the best delivery
system for HFR content. The first goal involves assisting leading-edge
filmmakers and post-production companies in perfecting HFR movie creation, so
the industry has the most engaging, entertaining content possible. The second
goal is to assist exhibitors in showing these 3D HFR movies in all their glory.
To these ends, Christie is helping create the standards for 3D HFR movies
through formal and informal technology-development alliances with major
producers and directors, post production facilities, studios and technology
partners. On the exhibitor’s front, Christie provides one stop shopping for all
the hardware, software and services that enable exhibitors to deliver a
filmmaker's vision in stunning 3D HFR quality. For more information visit
http://www.higherframerates.com.
About “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”From
Academy Award
®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey,” the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly
popular masterpiece
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three films tell a continuous story set
in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his
filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that
culminated with the Oscar
®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King.” The screenplay for
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens
& Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing
the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh.
The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn
Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
Under
Jackson’s direction, “The Hobbit” Trilogy has been shot in 3D 48
frames-per-second and will be released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D), other 3D
formats, IMAX and 2D. Production took place at Jackson’s own
facilities in Miramar, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.
“The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and the second and third films of the trilogy
are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with
New Line managing production. Warner
Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select
international territories as well as all international television distribution
being handled by MGM.
