Disney Plans To Release 5 Films, 3-D "Christmas Carol," On IMAX

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it agreed to deliver five movies via IMAX theaters beginning with the 3-D movie "A Christmas Carol," starring Jim Carrey, in November 2009. Future films may also include those made by director Tim Burton and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the studio said. Imax Corp. is in the midst of rolling out digital projection technology at its large-screen theaters and the Disney slate takes advantage of that. As of September, Imax had 320 theaters worldwide and aims to have up to 50 converted to digital technology by the end of the year. Imax said last week that its screens averaged $27,000 in revenue over the opening weekend of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.'s "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," which opened Nov. 7. That was much higher than the $15,559 average per theater the film did overall that weekend, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC. (link)