Megabox launches Korea's first Dolby Cinema
Megabox CEO Kim Jin-sun speaks during a press event for launching Korea's first Dolby Cinema in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Megabox
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Megabox, one of Korea's three biggest theater chains along with CGV and Lotte Cinema, has launched the country's first Dolby Cinema to deliver a fully immersive cinema experience to moviegoers.
The multiplex operator's decision to open its first Dolby Cinema at its COEX location comes amid its attempts to revitalize the movie theater industry that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It's true that film crew and cinema staff are going through tough times due to COVID-19,” Megabox CEO Kim Jin-sun said during a press event held in Seoul, Wednesday.
“Although our talks with Dolby had begun long before the coronavirus broke out, we believe that Dolby Cinema can help revive the virus-hit industry and bring audiences back to movie theaters.”
Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema that combines Dolby technologies such as Dolby Vision laser projection and Dolby Atmos moving audio, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features.
Megabox said it looks forward to building on the popularity of Dolby Atmos audio technology that has been successfully installed at movie theaters in Korea in recent years
“Following the opening of the Megabox COEX site, we plan to open a second Dolby Cinema site at Megabox Anseong Starfield in September and Namyangju Hyungdai Premium Outlet in November,” said Kim Hyun-soo, managing director of the cinema's multiplex division.
“We will continue to add new Dolby Cinema locations and deliver diverse content as we expect that theater attendance will bounce back to the levels it once was.”
Megabox is not the first company to install a premium cinema screen in Korea. CGV has previously teamed up with IMAX, installing screens at 18 theaters nationwide. IMAX is characterized by having bigger screens than Dolby Cinema.
An overview of Dolby Cinema deployed in Megabox COEX / Courtesy of Megabox
On how Dolby Cinema differs from IMAX, a Megabox official explained that the two have different formats of visuals and sound experience.
“Bigger doesn't mean better when it comes to theater screens. Dolby Cinema uses a format that all Hollywood studios use, so audiences can enjoy a larger variety of content,” he said.
Doug Darrow, senior vice president of the cinema business group at Dolby Laboratories, celebrated the launch and noted the growing influence of the Korean film market.
“With the Korean film industry rising on the global stage, I'm pleased to see the official launch of the first Dolby Cinema in Korea,” he said through a video.
“Korea is the world's fourth-largest market in the global box office, which generated $1.8 billion in sales last year. It has more than 120 premium large format screens and Korean audiences watch an average of 4.5 movies a year. Given these data, Korea is one of the most important markets for Dolby Cinema,” he added.
Megabox will hold a “Re-watch It in Dolby Cinema” event by the end of August to offer Korean movie fans a chance to re-watch some of the best hit films in recent years.
Planned screenings include “Aladdin” and superhero flicks “Aquaman” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” From July 30, there will be screenings of “Ford v Ferrari,” which won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, and “The Fate of the Furious.”
The Dolby Cinema at Megabox COEX has 378 seats, and the ticket price for 2D movies at Dolby Cinema is 17,000 won ($14) on weekends.