Ken: Windtalkers opens 6/14, Lilo & Stitch opens 6/21.

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Mark: The picture of the Chinese screen that you posted on Film-Tech on May 26 shows that it was masked down considerably from its full size. Looking at your picture, I would estimate it was less than 20 x 48 feet. Do you have actual dimensions of the much smaller area that was being used for the Digital Projection of ATOC?

Here's your photo

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

How was the Chinese allowed to drop ATOC after only four weeks?

Are you saying that they pulled the masking out to the full 70-foot width like they do for film? The side masking in your first photo certainly looks to be set much less than 70 feet. Somehow that masked area seems small for a theatre the size of the Chinese.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

The old screen ALWAYS seemed small to me in relation to the curtain openings. I've heard that when they switched from carbon arc to xenon, they did shrink the screen down. Until they installed their larger screen last year (which, for all I know, may be the old carbon-arc size, i've seen movies projected in ALL kinds of ratios, with both height and width adjustments. 1.33 in TWO sizes, one as tall as the Cinemascope image, another MUCH larger (One from the Heart, Casablanca re-issue), 35mm flat (taller than scope, 1.66 ratio (Robocop, Interview With the Vampire,that Kevin Costner Robin Hood thingy). The 1.85 previews that were hardmatted would of course show the mattes both top and bottom. the ONLY 1.85 ratio films that I've seen projected in 1.85 were the flat blow-ups to 70mm. Since they installed the new screen, i dont know if they still have all these different ratios or not.

The 1977 STAR WARS engagement only lasted 4 weeks, replaced with SORCERER. The film returned in August of that year, but only as a four-wall, which lasted until Heaven Can Wait. (FOX payed Mann $13,500 a week to play the film for the return. At the time, Mann considered FIRST-RUN to be exclusive (except they WOULD allow day-and-date with Westwood), so this was the way around this). At the time, Mann claimed a $10,000 a week nut, so there was a built-in profit of 3,500.

STAR WARS Episode 1 ALSO played 4 weeks only at the Chinese, before moving to the Galaxy. Mann was rejecting the long terms outright, so another limited arrangement was made (I think this was also four-walled). it would have been embarrassing to FOX not to have the film play here, since much publicity was made of the early lines forming.

So I would assume there had been some advanced agreement this time around as well.

One of my photos has about the same vantage point as Mark Lucas' photo. Comparing the photos, the screen in Mark's photo appears to have the masking pulled in, significantly reducing the image size.

So --- since the full screen wasn't being used, what was the ACTUAL image size being used for the DLP-Cinema presentation of ATOC on the Mann Chinese screen?

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion