Dolby Cinema launches in China

A file photo of Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Wanda Group. [Photo/Agencies]

Dolby Cinema, featuring advanced cinema technology, has officially landed in Asia as Wanda Cinema Line opened four sites in China on June 23.

The four new theaters -- in Dalian, Changchun, Chongqing and Jinan -- are the first of 100 Dolby Cinemas that Wanda Cinema Line and Dolby Laboratories plan to open in China over the next five years. By the end of 2016, six more sites will be added, including Beijing and Chengdu.

"The speed with which we've been able to bring these first four sites into reality with Wanda has been spectacular," Bob Borchers, Dolby's senior vice-president, told China Daily. "I think it shows the pace to reach the market is growing."

Dolby Cinema features Dolby Vision, a vivid laser projection system which offers a richer, more detailed viewing experience, and Dolby Atmos sound technology which moves audio around the theatre and overhead.

Combined with the vision and audio technologies, the cinema is designed to make audiences feel closer to the onscreen action to transform the movie experience, according to the San Francisco-based company.

Since their launch in April 2015, more than 200 Dolby Cinema sites have been installed or committed to in the world, with 26 Dolby Cinema sites currently in operation.

The first Dolby Cinema movie title released in China is the latest blockbuster in China Warcraft, produced by Legendary, which was acquired by Wanda. It was considered "a prime example of the power and sophistication of Dolby Cinema," according to Peter Loehr, CEO of Legendary East.

"This shows that Wanda is not only collaborating with Dolby on the exhibition side, but also looks forward to more collaborations in movie production, so as to provide audiences with an unprecedented experience combining Wanda's premium movie content with Dolby's leading technologies in sight and sound," said John Zeng, president of Wanda Cinema Line.

"There's a great synergy between Legendary, Wanda, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos all coming together," said Borchers, adding that it was "amazing" that the appetite of consumers around the world -- especially in China -- to have great stories both from Hollywood and locally was growing.

Warcraft will be followed by Finding Dory, Independence Day: Resurgence, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and The Legend of Tarzan, which have been confirmed to be released in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for Dolby Cinema in China.

Besides the Hollywood titles, "we've got a strong pipeline of local titles as well," said Borchers. He said Dolby has been working closely with filmmakers in China through Dolby Institute, helping upcoming filmmakers figure out how to tell their stories using Dolby technologies.

The team also works with Chinese film festivals, and universities and colleges that are training filmmakers, as well as local production companies to make sure color grading and audio mixing capabilities are available, according to Borchers.

"We've done significantly well with Dolby Atmos in China, and we are just beginning to do so with Dolby Vision," he said. "So we are making significant investment in terms of training new filmmakers, and also making sure that the infrastructure is in place so that when somebody has a great story that they want to tell using Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, the tools are available to them in the local market."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com