FORREST GUMP CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY WITH EXCLUSIVE ONE-WEEK IMAX® RELEASE ON SEPT. 5
LOS ANGELES – July 29, 2014 – IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX), Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB), and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment today announced that Robert Zemeckis’ Academy Award® Best Picture-winning Forrest Gump will get an exclusive one-week IMAX® re-release, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the film’s original theatrical release in 1994. The film will be digitally re-mastered for the immersive IMAX® format and released domestically by Paramount Pictures in IMAX® theatres starting September 5.
Forrest Gump, which won six Academy Awards including Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Director, will also receive a special Diamond Luxe Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment September 30. The Diamond Luxe edition features a new sleek and durable collector-style packaging, with a state-of-the-art sophisticated design.
“As a ground-breaking achievement in both cinematography and visual effects for its time, Forrest Gump has become a modern American movie classic,” said Greg Foster, Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp. and CEO of IMAX Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to once again collaborate with our longtime friends and partners Bob Zemeckis, Tom Hanks and Paramount. This film deserves a platform like The IMAX Experience® to help make its 20th anniversary one to remember.”
“On behalf of the entire Forrest Gump family, it is with great pleasure and pride that we bring Forrest Gump back to the big screen using the latest technology for the ultimate IMAX experience,” said producer Wendy Finerman.
Originally released in theaters by Paramount Pictures, Forrest Gump stars Hanks in the title role, a man who — despite his sub-normal IQ — led an extraordinary life, with a ringside seat to many of the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. The award-winning film went on to gross more than $675 million at the global box office, of which nearly $330 million came from North America, making it the highest-grossing film of all time when it was released in 1994.
The film also stars Robin Wright, Sally Field and Gary Sinise in his Oscar-nominated role as the cantankerous Lieutenant Dan.
The IMAX release of Forrest Gump will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.
About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra.
About IMAX CorporationIMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you've never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX's network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of March 31, 2014, there were 840 IMAX theatres (707 commercial multiplexes, 18 commercial destinations and 115 institutions) in 57 countries.
IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience®, IMAX Is Believing® and IMAX nXos® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).
The Magno (Sony) or Diamond Luxe (WB) is a completely new type of disc package. Pictures and video can’t do it justice. The trade name is actually NEO™. I invented NEO™ along with PixelChrome™ the hyper glossy/ reflective specialty graphic substrate that it is constructed from, about 18 months ago here in my Los Angeles design studio not far from Sony Pictures. SPE is releasing the first example of NEO with Amazing Spiderman 2 at Best Buy on 8/19. The finished material is .100” thick and is made up of approximately 15 layers of stuff. It took about a year to refine the product to within NASA tolerances and build the equipment that makes the revolutionary manufacturing process possible. One of the key challenges was to create a precision snap fit for the disc without using a hub. The case is kept securely closed with dual neodymium magnets embedded in the material. NEO is being manufactured by DISC, the specialty packaging company that I work for, in Long Island, NY. More images and a decent 3D animation of NEO can be found here: www.neobluray.com. My goal was to create a completely new solution, capable of displaying celebrated imagery in the richest way possible, to create a case that is cinematic, timeless, and obscures the artwork as little as possible (both inside and out). No hubs, no trays, no borders, no cloudy plastic to look through. I also wanted it to be made from anything other than cheap molded plastic or recycled tin cans. Great movies deserve better! Not to slight Steelbooks etc, it was a great product and is still a good fit for some titles, but it is well past a decade old. I have also observed over and over that printing on recycled scrap metal drives people in this business crazy with its limitations and poor color consistency. I once heard an art director at one of the studios say that tin printing should be reserved for lunchboxes and vintage toys! I don't think that's true but I understand her frustration. Anyway I hope that collectors enjoy having something new to experience. In the wide world of commercial graphic art, I can’t think of a better place to be making a contribution. - Shane Rossiter
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