First Dolby Cinema sites open in Asia

The first Dolby Cinema title to be released is Warcraft from Legendary Pictures, and that film was shown today in a special screening at Wanda’s Dalian Kaide Heping Square [pictured] site.

Dolby Cinema features the Dolby Vision laser projection system and Dolby Atmos sound technologies.

Today’s launch follows the January announcement that Wanda and Dolby were planning to open 100 Dolby Cinema locations in China over the next five years.

After these four sites, another six will open in China (including in Beijing and Chengdu) by December.

As China’s exhibition sector booms, there is fierce competition among tech companies such as Dolby, IMAX and RealD which all operate across the Premium Large Format spectrum.

“We are transforming the movie experience in China with Wanda,” said Doug Darrow, senior vice president, Cinema Business Group, Dolby Laboratories.

“Dolby Cinema is a complete experience,” said John Zeng, president, Wanda Cinema Line. “We are glad that, as the largest exhibitor in Asia, we can be the first to bring this experience to audiences.”

Upcoming films scheduled to play in the Dolby Cinema format include Finding Dory, Independence Day: Resurgence, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows and The Legend Of Tarzan.

Wanda Cinema Line, a subsidiary of Wanda Group, operates 311 theatres in China as well as cities in Australia and New Zealand, with 2,700 total screens.

There are currently 20 Dolby Cinema locations in the US, through the Dolby Cinema at AMC brand, with 30 more expected from AMC by the end of the year. Four Dolby Cinema sites are currently operational in Europe.