M+E Connections

Dolby Cinema continues to represent a major growth area for Dolby Labs, and the expansion of Dolby Cinema in China and other overseas markets is a key part of the company’s strategy. Another reminder of that came July 8, when the company said “For a Few Bullets” from Chinese production company Wanda Pictures would be released at Dolby Cinema locations in China when it’s released July 15.

“For a Few Bullets More” was the first Chinese local-language movie to be mastered in the Dolby Vision laser projection system and Dolby Atmos sound technology, it said in a July 8 news release. Dolby Cinema theaters use both of those technologies and there were 29 such cinemas in operation as of July 8, according to Dolby.

Dolby’s collaboration with Chinese exhibition “marks a significant step in delivering the next-generation cinema experience on a global scale,” Doug Darrow, SVP of Cinema at Dolby Labs, told the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) July 12. Dolby Atmos “has more cinemas in the Chinese market than in any other country in the world,” he said. “Now, with Dolby Cinema,” which adds Dolby Vision, “we are able to deliver a unique movie-going experience, with rich and vivid images and lifelike sound that will transport audiences across China deeper into the story,” he said.

Wanda Cinema Line plan to open a total of 100 Dolby Cinema theaters in China in the next two years, with the first locations already open in in Dalian, Changchun, Chongqing and Jinan, he said. Wanda Cinema Line plans to expand the number of operating Dolby Cinema sites in China to 10 by December 2016 alone, he said, adding that other cities slated for Dolby Cinema include Beijing and Chengdu.

Meanwhile, Jackie Chan Cinemas will be opening a Dolby Cinema in Beijing Wukesong, he said, pointing to a March 15 announcement by the two companies in which they called the location China’s top-grossing movie theater site.

Since the first Dolby Cinema sites in China were opened by Wanda Cinema Line in late June, five titles have been released or announced for release in China, including the U.S. films “Warcraft” from Legendary and Universal Pictures, Disney Pixar’s “Finding Dory,” Fox’s “Independence Day: Resurgence” and Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” he said.

China is becoming an increasingly important cinema market for the film industry, Darrow pointed out in a recent LinkedIn blog post. By next year, the Chinese box office is projected to be larger than that of the U.S., he said.

Since launching in April 2015, more than 200 Dolby Cinema sites have either been installed already or committed to globally, Dolby said. Forty-three movie titles for those screens have either been released or announced, it said. “We look forward to working closely with China’s movie industry to create more local-language movies for Dolby Cinema,” Darrow said in the July 8 news release.

Other movie theater companies supporting Dolby Cinema outside the U.S. include Cineplexx in Austria and Vue in the Netherlands, Dolby Labs CEO Kevin Yeaman said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call April 27.