CHENNAI: The city’s first IMAX screen is booked out all weekend, despite jazzcinemas.com going down late on Tuesday. This comes after a two-year wait for not one, but two of the city’s IMAX screens to open — Palazzo at the Forum Vijaya Mall and Luxe Cinemas at Phoenix MarketCity, which remained unopened due to licensing issues.
Evidently, movie buffs didn’t seem to mind hitting the refresh button for hours to get a first-day ticket for the release of Spectre at Luxe Cinemas in Phoenix Marketcity this Friday.
“We were supposed to start booking by 11pm, but the moment I went online I saw a lot of criticism on social media about how the website wasn’t functioning,” says Ajay Ayyappan, an entrepreneur and avid movie buff.
Ajay says he opened multiple virtual windows to keep open his window of opportunity. And it worked. Ajay now has tickets to a special screening on Thursday — an entire day before the movie is officially released. While this fan is familiar with the IMAX experience, it will be a first for most residents of the city.
“I’ve heard so many amazing things from friends, like the visuals and sound make you feel like it’s an immersive experience. Like you’re a part of the movie,” says Shanmuga Priyam, with a sense of awe. “Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this experience all my life.”
Several movie buffs are still sore about missing out on the IMAX experience with big releases like Gravity, Mad Max and The Dark Knight Rises. Some even told us that when Interstellar hit theatres they made a trip to Hyderabad to catch the film in all its IMAX glory.
IMAX Trivia
So it’s no surprise that anticipation is now on overdrive for most movie goers, except for one buzzkill — the pricing. A ticket at an IMAX screen in Chennai costs `360. Add to that `30 for online booking and another `30 for 3D glasses, and one has to shell out `420, just for the IMAX
experience.
From the comments online, it’s evident that no one wants to pay this much to watch a film. However, Ajay, who’s been to IMAX screens from Mumbai to Melbourne, points out, “Most metros in India have an IMAX charge of more than `500 a ticket, and the prices usually go up on weekends. At `360, Chennai still has the most pocket-friendly IMAX screen in the country.”