PVR Inox, India’s largest cinema chain, has opened the country’s first . The business has renovated the Priya Cinema in Delhi’s Basant Lok Complex, Vasant Vihar, updating it to provide patrons with a “ultra-modern,” IMAX Laser-projected, multi-screen experience.
This is the first movie theater in the nation devoted only to showing IMAX films; other IMAX theaters in the country also show standard theater formats and projections. The theater is one of the oldest in the PVR chain and has a single screen with 316 seats with ticket rates ranging from Rs.400 to Rs.1000.
Ajay Bijli, Managing Director, PVR INOX Ltd., said in a prepared statement, “We are extremely pleased to upgrade our first and most iconic cinema, PVR Priya into a modern-day representation of a truly immersive cinematic experience like IMAX.” With its larger-than-life allure and immersive formats like IMAX, Hollywood and other Indian films that aren’t dubbed into English have successfully expanded the global audience for motion pictures. The recent “Barbenheimer” movie festival, which helped Indian theaters make money despite competition from streaming services, is the obvious example here. Revenue increased dramatically in July, when three huge Hollywood blockbusters—Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning, Part One; Barbie; and Oppenheimer—hit theaters all at once.
The most recent one topped the charts in India, grossing over 100 crores, with many people flocking to IMAX theaters to see it the way ‘Christopher Nolan meant it.’ Both the Tom Cruise action flick and the one he stars in have been given the IMAX treatment, and both are presently showing at Delhi’s Priya Cinema.
However, the current Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strike has stalled major projects, making it impossible for PVR Inox to keep the company operating without a steady stream of IMAX size movies to screen at regular intervals. Even Dune: Part 2, which was supposed to be out in November with an IMAX emphasis, could not come out until 2024 if its celebrity ensemble is unable to conduct any promotion or interviews.
Priya Cinemas will be compelled to screen non-IMAX pictures, which is technically against its advertising, unless more local, Indian movies come forward to shoot in IMAX during the Hollywood lull. In a recent interview, PVR Inox managing director Bijli affirmed as much, saying that until Hollywood studios and the actors’ and writers’ unions come to a fair arrangement, there would be a lot of that.
Because shooting with regular 2K cameras is so much more affordable, the vast majority of Indian productions use them. Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, said in a press release that the company is “pleased to further partner with PVR INOX to meet surging demand for The IMAX Experience” in India. Gelfond attributed the country’s rapid rise to the enthusiasm of its audiences and their enthusiasm for both Indian and Hollywood filmmaking.
Once the ‘Barbenheimer’ mania dies down, movie theaters throughout the globe will face a scenario like to the epidemic period, when audiences stayed at home to avoid becoming sick. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a big participant in this change since its performers are unable to conduct any voiceover work during the strike. Kraven the Hunter, meantime, has been pushed back from its original October release date to August of 2024.
