Theater will be first in Texas to feature IMAX with Laser

Aug. 2, 2016 (AUSTIN, TX) — The newest movie projection technology available is coming this fall to the Bullock Museum IMAX® Theatre, located in downtown Austin, Texas. After a temporary closure for renovation, the Bullock Museum's theater will reopen in early October as the first theater in Texas, and one of only a handful in the world, to offer movies using the new proprietary IMAX® with Laser system. To celebrate its grand reopening on Oct. 7, 2016, the museum will host the U.S. premiere of the highly anticipated Voyage of Time, written and directed by Terrence Malick.

From August through early October, the Bullock Museum IMAX Theatre will undergo an extensive transformation as new laser projectors and enhanced 12-channel immersive audio systems are installed. Luxury seating, new carpet, and expanded concessions will enhance the moviegoing experience for visitors.

"When we reopen the theater, audiences will enjoy one of the most extraordinary theater experiences available in the country," Dr. Victoria Ramirez, director of the Bullock Museum, said. "It is a high priority for us to offer the best movie viewing technology available in the Austin and Central Texas market."

The museum signed an agreement with the IMAX Corporation earlier this year that will bring the company's next-generation digital laser projection system, known as IMAX with Laser, to Austin.

Laser technology will replace the museum’s current IMAX xenon digital projection system and further enhance the IMAX experience for visitors. IMAX with Laser represents a quantum leap forward in cinema technology — providing audiences with the most vivid digital images ever to appear on screen combined with a whole new level of immersive audio. The technology will enable the theater to deliver the full array of the highest-quality IMAX digital content available.

Featuring a dual, 4K laser-driven system designed for both 2D and 3D formats, the output is nearly 50 percent brighter than existing systems. The new technology will allow for a significantly larger color range, which means viewers can see colors never before seen on screen. The projection will fill the biggest screen in Texas and audiences' field of vision more effectively than the current system, and images will reach the highest contrast level available anywhere.

"This technology will offer the sharpest, brightest, clearest and most vivid images ever created on screen," Bullock Museum Director of Film and Theaters Josh Jacobs said. "More contrast and a wider gamut of colors means more detail in the image and even more intense, lifelike images, creating a heightened level of realism that makes audiences feel like they are part of the movie."

The museum also will install a next-generation sound system delivers that will double the sound level through an enhanced 12-channel system with boosted sub-bass. Additional speakers above the audience and on both sides of the theater provide an unrivaled, visceral sound experience. In addition to new projection and audio systems, new 3D glasses will optimize the advanced 3D technology system, and new theater seats and carpeting will be installed.

The Bullock Museum IMAX Theatre will be open through Aug. 4, 2016, and will remain closed for renovation until early October. The grand reopening of the theater will kick off Oct. 7, 2016 as the Bullock Museum hosts the American opening of Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience. An examination of the birth and death of the known universe, the film will take audiences on a vast, yet personal, journey that spans eons, from the Big Bang to the age of the dinosaurs to our present human world and beyond.

To offer new, innovative programming during the closure, the museum's Texas Spirit Theater, a 190-seat theater located on the second floor, will feature the award-winning animated short film World of Tomorrow by Austin filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt. It will show daily Aug. 5 to Oct. 7, 2016. A companion exhibition of Hertzfeldt's original artwork, some never-before-seen, will be on view outside the theater through Oct. 7, 2016.

Visit TheStoryofTexas.com, or follow @BullockMuseum on Facebook and Twitter, to learn more about this exciting project and the museum's exhibitions, films and programs.

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​​The Bullock Texas State History Museum, a division of the State Preservation Board and an accredited institution of the American Alliance of Museums, creates experiences that educate, engage, and encourage a deeper understanding of Texas. With dynamic, award-winning exhibitions that illuminate Texas history, people, and culture, educational programming for all ages, and an IMAX® theater with a screen the size of Texas, the Museum collaborates with more than 700 museums, libraries, archives, organizations, and individuals across the world to bring the Story of Texas to life. For more information, visit www.TheStoryofTexas.com or call (866)369-7108.