Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) and We Pictures today announced that the studio’s release of The Guillotines (China release: December 20, 2012) will be mixed and released in Dolby® Atmos™, the new audio format that has revolutionized the experience of sound in entertainment. The film will be mixed at MBS Studios in Hong Kong, which has recently been equipped with Dolby Atmos capability.
“Dolby Atmos is one of our most significant innovations in years and offers an extremely lifelike sensory experience,” said Mike Chao, Managing Director, Dolby Laboratories, Greater China. “Whether it’s the sound of flying weapons or kung fu movements, Dolby Atmos will transport moviegoers right into the onscreen adventure of the emperor’s SWAT team during the Qing dynasty.”
The Guillotines is directed by widely acclaimed and award-winning director Andrew Lau, famous for directing the Infernal Affairs trilogy. “As directors, we used to ask postproduction sound mixers to design realistic background sounds,” said Andrew Lau. “While cinema sound effects have been dramatically enhanced from 5.1 to 7.1, Dolby Atmos has revolutionized the 5.1- and 7.1-channel experience. It is a new audio technology that exponentially expands the space of the action and brings audiences a more lifelike experience than ever before.”
Award-winning sound designer and sound mixer Kinson Tsang will be at the helm of the Dolby Atmos mix. Founder of MBS Studios, Kinson Tsang has won multiple awards, including four Hong Kong Film Awards, five Taipei Golden Horse awards, two Golden Bauhinia awards, one award from the Asia Pacific Film Festival, and one from the Fajr International Film Festival. “Dolby Atmos is definitely the most powerful sound technology I’ve ever used,” said Kinson Tsang. “It offers an immersive sound experience to audiences, and it allows us to fully unleash the creative potential and bring the story more fully to life. It’s like a
dream come true for all filmmakers.”
The list of theatres selected to show
The Guillotines in Dolby Atmos will be made available closer to the release date on
dolby.com.cn and Dolby’s Sina weibo page
@Dolby.
About Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos brings a powerful new listening experience to the cinema with more natural, realistic sound that truly envelops the audience. It is an end-to-end solution that helps mixers, studios, and distributors dramatically improve the audio experience. The Dolby Atmos platform makes it easy for content creators to create immersive soundscapes, and it ensures the best possible audience experience, regardless of theatre configuration or the number of speakers.
Hollywood studios including Disney/Pixar (Brave), Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation (Rise of the Guardians), Twentieth Century Fox (Taken 2, Chasing Mavericks, Life of Pi), and Warner Bros. (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) have adopted the Dolby Atmos format, increasing the count of 2012 Dolby Atmos titles to six.
In 2013, three Hollywood studio titles, including Gravity and Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. and Star Trek into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, are already scheduled to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment, with additional studio titles to follow.
International movie productions are currently in the works or will be started in 2013 by movie studios in China, France, Germany, India, Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Acclaimed Chinese director Andrew Lau’s The Guillotines joins the growing list of international titles.
About The Guillotines
Arguably history’s first SWAT team, this covert assassination squad of the emperor was composed of young street thugs who had been killing for food and survival since they were kids. Trained to use the Guillotines, the deadliest weapon ever invented, they competed with one another to be the best killer. Merciless and arrogant, they had been living life on the fast lane, until one day it was revealed they had been killing the wrong people for the wrong side. As they were ambushed by another team of killers, and the hunters became the hunted, they were forced to kill for their survival again or faced imminent annihilation.
Produced by Jojo Hui, Andrew Lau, Peter Chan
Directed by Andrew Lau
Cast Huang Xiaoming
Ethan Juan
Li Yuchun
Shawn Yue
Boran Jing
About We Pictures
We Pictures Ltd., founded by well acclaimed Hong Kong director Peter Ho-sun Chan (Perhaps Love, The Warlords, Bodyguards and Assassins, Wu Xia) is a new breed of film company, set to transform the outlook of Chinese language cinema.
The first film from the new stable is Bodyguards and Assassins, which is produced and directed by Peter Chan and Teddy Chen respectively. It is an event blockbuster released in Dec. 2009 to critical and commercial success. Also, Bodyguards and Assassins scored another 8 wins for Peter Chan, and making his 3 films (Comrades, Almost a Love Story, The Warlords, Bodyguards and Assassins) the first, second and third record holder of the number of statues won in the 30 years’ history of the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Under the framework of We Pictures, the renowned helmers will bring their artistic sensibilities and extensive experience with film industries in both the East and the West to help some of the most promising talents in the region translate their ideas into film projects that will not only score in the box office but win the hearts of a large audience.
Hong Kong will serve as a creative base to develop film projects, which will be overseen by a panel of consultants comprised of filmmaking professionals, media experts and academics to ensure that these film projects can gauge the interests of a much larger and culturally diversified audience. Every aspect of a film from production to distribution and promotion will all be conducted under the roof of We Pictures Ltd.
The martial arts blockbuster Wu Xia, directed and produced by Peter Chan, was the only Chinese language film to be invited into the Official Selection in the 64th Cannes Film Festival. It is also honored with 12 nominations in the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards. Pictures’ latest project The Guillotines,produced by Peter Chan and directed by Andrew Lau, will be released in late 2012.
