Disney bets on Imax

The Mouse House will be releasing five movies in the super-sharp format, starting with "A Christmas Carol," to come out late next year and starring Jim Carrey. Toronto-based Imax has been under pressure get its technology into more theaters, especially with the push for 3-D systems. Imax-formatted movies used to be available in Imax theaters, but now they can be shown on regular-size screens. Here are stories from the WSJ and LAT. From the Times:

Imax Corp. co-Chairman and co-CEO Richard L. Gelfond said his company's decision to embrace digital projection laid the groundwork for the Disney deal. The previous film-based system was a major obstacle, because prints cost $45,000 apiece. That tended to limit releases to event films such as "Polar Express," which did $45 million in the first year of release on Imax screens. "If you're a studio, [now] you can get access to this very significant box office and a premium experience, where people are willing to pay a premium price, and you don't really have the incremental costs of prints which you used to have," Gelfond said.