Independent exhibitors proceed with D-cinema roll out in the US

Dolby has secured deals for roll out of D-cinema systems with two leading independent exhibitors in the US. Malco Theatres has installed 11 d-screens in three theatres, comprising the Dolby Digital system. The initial installations form part of a wider proposal to convert 45 screens in four Memphis-based theatres namely the Paradiso, Grandview, Malco Towne and Oxford. Malco has a total of 300 screens across five US states. Meanwhile, fellow independent, Premier Theatres has equipped nine additional screens for D-cinema in 2006, incorporating Dolby servers, thereby forming an all digital multiplex. The new deployments for both Premiere and Malco, follow previous experience with Dolby systems for the release of Disney’s Chicken Little in 3D in November 2005. Malco was also an early adopter of 1.3k DLP cinema equipment with Barco and Avica back in 2002. In addition, the leading d-cinema facilitator in the US, Christie/AIX has recently added another exhibitor to its 4,000 screen roll out programme. The latest is independent exhibitor Cinema West, which has signed up for the conversion of its entire 64 screens.