By Crystal Harrell
On May 22, Mary Pickford is D’Place presented a kick-off media day event to unveil the new, ultra-premium ScreenX auditorium and showcase a special presentation of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in ScreenX.
ScreenX is the world’s first multi-projection theatre technology—providing moviegoers with a 270-degree panoramic viewing experience by expanding the screen onto the side walls of the auditorium. The technology behind the experience utilizes an array of projectors on each side of the theatre. From there, proprietary ScreenX software blends multiple images into one seamless image extending from the center out.
“I think that the ScreenX is really going to bring that new top tier experience to the desert. It really is immersive, and it’s unlike anything that you can create or replicate anywhere else. So you’re not going to get this at home and you’re not going to get this at your standard megaplex theater. It’s really unique in that it is a full, immersive, basically three-wall screen experience,” stated Damon Rubio, President of D’Place Entertainment.
Depending on the film, there will be an admission ticket price upcharge of $6.95 with the ScreenX viewing experience. The new ScreenX auditorium will boast a 50-foot-wide screen and luxury recliner seats, providing a premium theatrical experience for viewers. Besides Warner Brothers’ Furiosa, other upcoming ScreenX films include Illumination’s Despicable Me 4, Universal Pictures’ Twisters, and Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine. To date, there are over 370 ScreenX auditoriums worldwide in 40 countries.
“When you have an epic film that has amazing landscapes, or a great action film that has amazing visuals, that’s what this really brings out. You’re now going to be in that world and you can’t help but be drawn into the film when it’s all around you in the ScreenX format. Long term, I do think that you’re going to see this in many, many other regions, but when it comes to the Coachella Valley, we will be exclusive with ScreenX for quite a few years,” said Rubio.
In April of this year, at CinemaCon CJ 4DPLEX, the world’s leading producer of premium film formats and cinema technologies, D’Place Entertainment announced plans to install the ScreenX format at the Mary Pickford location.
With this new ScreenX experience now installed in downtown Cathedral City, the movie-experience in Greater Palm Springs is about to get even more immersive. As sophisticated as this technology is, the special presentation of Furiosa showcased some less-than-perfect features that might distract cinephiles in the theatre as opposed to enhancing the film itself. The wall projections do not match the same hue and brightness of the main screen and often blur and distort the image trying to expand on its walls. Large black seams also separate the wall projections from the main screen—losing the illusion of fluid emersion with its expanded perspective. Nevertheless, with time and perhaps a larger auditorium to more effectively utilize the directional positioning of wall screens as opposed to flat projections, the ScreenX experience could be a novelty and exciting way to experience big screen action.
“In our history, we’ve always kind of went out looking for the next great movie-going experience that enhances the experience and doesn’t distract from it. And a few years ago, I was lucky enough to see a demonstration of this ScreenX technology. I knew at that moment that we needed to bring that experience here to the Mary Pickford in Cathedral City. We started really working closely with the partners and the team at ScreenX to make this dream a reality,” shared Rubio.
