'MATRIX' TO AIR IN IMAX FORMAT.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

BURBANK - Thinking big, Warner Bros. Pictures on Wednesday said it will release one of its upcoming ``Matrix'' films in both 33mm and the giant IMAX format, the first time a major Hollywood film will have a same-day opening in both formats.

``The Matrix Revolutions'' will hit traditional and IMAX theaters next November. ``The Matrix Reloaded,'' due out May 15, will debut on IMAX Corp.'s three-story-high screens about two weeks after the regular-format debut.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Analysts, as well as industry executives, cheered the partnership.

``It's a great next step in the evolution of cinema. Instead of being a two-tier release pattern - theatrical, then video - you now have theater, video and IMAX. It's a win-win for everybody,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Encino-based box officer tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

And movies like ``The Matrix'' franchise will benefit from fans double- dipping - paying to see the movie in both formats, he said.

Supersizing the viewing experience will cost more, though, with IMAX customers expected to pay about $3 to $4 more per ticket.

``The remastered IMAX versions of 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' provide our audience with a whole new way to experience the films that is even more immersive and more exciting,'' Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, said in a statement.

But it's good news for IMAX as well as ``Matrix'' fans, who are attracted by the franchise's spectacular special effects.

``We aspire to to be the place to see event films. We'd like to see IMAX theaters in every major multiplex across the country and around the world, and the only way to do that is ... show Hollywood event films and then try to grow the network,'' said Richard L. Gelfond. He and Bradley J. Wechsler are IMAX's co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers.

The deal broadens the New York-based company's commercial base for its proprietary technology called DMR, under development since the late 1990s, that converts 35mm film to the IMAX format.

Basically, a 35mm negative is digitally scanned, the edges sharpened and colors brightened, then it's rerecorded back to film. The result is a negative about 10 times bigger than the original image.

And IMAX projectors use an especially bright light.

``When you put that amount of brightness through this negative, you really get a spectacular image. Matrix is the kind of movie that really shows off the technology,'' Gelfond said.

The company is also talking to other Hollywood studios about similar partnerships, he said.

Industry analysts, and recent history, suggest that IMAX screens will give studios another solid distribution channel, even though it costs between $2 million and $3 million to supersize a film.

There are about 240 IMAX screens in play, half in educational settings and half in commercial theater operations. Some commercial operators have taken regular 35mm films and projected them on the giant screens. Seats sold out.

IMAX also digitally remastered ``Apollo 13'' and ``Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones'' and they proved popular, too. For example, the third episode of ``Star Wars'' made about $7 million during a seven-week IMAX run.

Analyst David Marsh at Arlington, Va.-based Friedman, Billings, Ramsey said studies have shown that moviegoers are willing to pay more and drive farther to see films in the IMAX format.

``I do see more of this in the future,'' he said. ``The studios apparently view the IMAX screen as an alternative new-release window that can be used in conjunction with traditional theaters. If (Warner Bros.) are successful it could lead to a significant numbers for (IMAX) in the future.''