Hou, TX AOTC Imax in Galveston!

i've gathered up some friends to go down to houston w/ me to see this movie on the imax so i'm HOPING that it goes to houston. i live in conroe which is like 4o miles north of houston, so it's not that far of a drive or anything. and i do remember beauty and the beast being released in a houston imax? or did i make that up?

 

Just wait for the DVD comes out November.

 

You know what guys if ya hadn't said anything I wouldn't have noticed the cuts until I saw it again in full on DVD. Why, Why must every thing be so sad? Oh well I should stop whining and growup and be a man.(metaphorically speaking, of course) Oh what the hec, I 'll just go bake to busting heads.

 

I am a member of the Large Format industry and have been keeping close tabs on this; there are a number of factors for AOTC not being very available in TX, most of which are technical- the existing Imax theaters were never built to handle that long of a film being the basic reason.

Here's my somewhat expert opinion:

1) the Edwards at Jillian's is closed. There will be no Imax AOTC there.

2) the Houston Museum of Natural Science does not only not have the platter capacity to run AOTC, they are also very stringent about only playing films that enhance the educational mission of the museum. Having worked there, I can support that. Also having worked there, I can say there is no way their system can handle more than 60 minutes of film.

3) still waiting for news on Space Center, but last time I was in their booth, they had the same reel capacity as HMNS and them getting AOTC is doubtful

4) Galveston would be likely to get it, but again, last time I was in their booth, they had the same reel unit as Space Center and HMNS. Actually, they have two of them, but neither will hold platters big enough to accomodate more than 60 minutes or so of film.

5) I was in Austin last week and talked with their theater director about the possibility of them getting it...once again, they have an educational mission and willnot be showing AOTC

6) San Antonio may get it, but last time I checked they are scheduled to run Apollo 13 this fall. Don't hold your breath for them either, but there is hope.

7) Fort Worth has the same situation as HMNS and others- not enough platter capacity and an educational mission. Ditto for Science Place.

Looks like Texas' only hope of seeing AOTC in Imax is with the Cinemark in Dallas- they are one of the newest theaters and are likely to have the equipment for it, and they are not encumbered by an educational mission. Unfortunately, they are also scheduled to play Apollo 13 this fall and may not be able to contract for AOTC.

On another note, if anyone should be blamed for not getting AOTC in their local Imax, it sure isn't the theater owners/directors... the film schedules are almost always planned out at least a year in advance and when a distributor expects the exhibitors to just drop all their plans with only 2 months' notice, they simply will not get good results.
Blame Fox distributing and the fact that it would cost several hundred thousand dollars, per theater, just in equipment upgrades to be able to run this film.

Seems to me like this was not thought out very well by Imax and the folks at Fox distribution. This makes me very disappointed as I have been wanting to see some SW in Imax for YEARS now and it may not be time yet, despite the promises.

(Please keep in mind that I am speaking out of personal knowledge and experience and am in no way an official representative for any of these theaters or companies-- this is merely well-informed speculation.)

 

from what i understand they will be playing Apollo 13 and AOTC at the same time, meaning they will alternat, i could be wrong, but thats what i understand. It sucks, we are most likely on of the few citys to have more than one IMAX and all of them are ancenit(sp)

Yoda

 

The people at fault are so far away... I'd still feel better if I could brake someting.

 

Don't break anything until you know for sure.

 

has anyone heard for sure when they will announce this yet?? Don't they know how crazy we are going not knowing anything? I just wish that if Dallas would get it, it would be around the time Carrie Fisher is going to be there. That would be awesome!
LG

 

Actually, unfortunately, the con in Dallas with Carrie Fisher will be the weekend of October 12. The release of AOTC will be November 1.

Still, both cool events.

 

I really hope we get it in Houston; I am tired of driving to Dallas to see movies.

 

I'm not driving to Dallas anymore. I'm sick of that. It's ridiculous that we should have to.

 

Speaking as one of the drivers for that trip to Plano, I definitely have to agree that the drive sucked, especially coming back to Houston.

 

Agreed.

I drove to Dallas twice (given, it was on my own accord) to see AOTC in DLP. And, I most likely will attend the thing in October. Houston deserves some recognition.

 

yeah, houston deserves recogontion, we are the freaking 4th largest city in America, we have the best convetion center...i was pissed when NYC went on to the olymics pick and we didn't, our idea was better, and the only reason they were picked was sympathy(note:i am not taking away from what happened to NYC last year that was unspeakuble) but then we get very little in the way of StarWars. HOuston desreves to get more than Dallas...becasue we have more people, Dallas Dallas Dallas, i want to blow the city off the map.

ok i'll stop ranting...very sensetive subject for me...Houston born, Houston raised, Houston All The Way!

Yoda

 

Now now, don't get all upset. I remember back in March of 2001 when all Texas Star Wars fans had to drive to Houston to see Magic of Myth.

 

blow Dallas off the map eh...

now where did I leave my ACME explosives co. Wile. E. Coyote Discount Card

 

Actually, the Dallas community is bigger than the Houston community, although the city of Houston is much larger than any one city in the Dallas community.

But I think we'll get the Imax movie, fear not. Dallas only has one Imax for these sort of things, so it's got just as good a chance of getting it as Houston does. And let's not forget, we got the Myth and the Magic tour, and Dallas didn't, so LFL doesn't always favor Dallas.

 

Sorry I have not been on in a while, but on this interesting subject.

Just to see AOTC in greater detail would be awesome, but for them to hack this wonderful masterpiece would be sacriligious. Yes I understand that the capacity of the Imax is not great, but I bet most Star Wars fans would be up for having an intermission so we could sse the entire movie, plus most theaters would make more on concessions. Just an idea, what does everyone think?

Plus later in November the Great Movie comes out on DVD.

 

that is exactly what i was thinking. if they're going to cut the movie, why not just cut it in half! play part one, do an intermission (the young punks won't know what's going on), and then play part two! i guess that makes too much sense for them to do it. unless they do that, i'm not going to bother. i've seen imax films, and they're not that big a deal imo. i am much more impressed with the dlp format, which permanently spoiled me from seeing aotc any other way. also, has anyone else noticed that ticket prices have gone up in the last 6 months or so? when aotc opened, the full price ticket was $7.25 or $7.50. we saw a matinee a few weeks ago and the full price was listed as $8!!! i'm sorry, but until we get digital movies here, i'm not paying that much to see a movie. it's getting a little ridiculous.

and for the previous posters whining about us not getting the olympics - it was not for sympathy of new yorkers, it was because no matter how big houston gets, it is just not that impressive of a city. the humidity, the traffic/road conditons, the lackluster downtown area. i could go on...

 

I'm afraid that Ep2 won't be coming to houston. There was an article in the chronicle explaining why houston isnt getting apollo 13. As far as the museums are concerned its cause of lack of time slots and equipment. As for Jillians, the article said that since Jillians' Imax is no longer associated with "IMAX" it will not be allowed to show it. Here is the link to the article. http://www.chron.com/content/archive/qsearch.hts?operation=getdoc&database=2002%3B&databases=2002%3B&docid=64805&docids=64805%3B&query=apollo+13+imax+no-show+in+houston+NOT+3:RSEC&pos=&numhits=25&start=&type=&user=houston&sview=1&hview=2&dview=1

Looks like we may have to go to Dallas or San Antonio.

 

Absurd.

Well, San Antonio I can deal with. Dallas just chaps me off.

 

Hmmmm, well, this is Jillian's fault, and not LFL, so we can't blame George, but we can find our enemies closer to home

 

Well, again, I'm not getting too upset about it until I know for sure we aren't getting it. Then, I'll take out my frustration on something.

 

If Jillian's will not associate with Imax, then we can forget it. That was our only hope.

 

Aww, couldn't you have let me hold onto my hopes for a little bit longer, David?