South Korea Opens World's Largest Imax Cinema

CJ CGV has also dedicated a screen to 'Oldboy' director Park Chan-wook at the Yongsan I'Park Mall near the U.S. military base in Seoul.

South Korea's largest exhibitor CJ CGV on Monday opened the world's largest Imax theater in Seoul, featuring a screen measuring 31 meters wide and 22.4 meters high.

Though Australia has been home to Imax screens up to over 35 meters wide, they are currently not in use. Even when including the Australian screens, which are getting renovated, CGV's new Yongsang I'Park Mall branch near the Yongsan U.S. military base in central Seoul has the largest Imax screen among multiplex cinemas across the globe.

It is about five times the size of screens found in the average multiplex cinema. A high-resolution projector presents pictures about 50 percent brighter and twice as clearly, at an aspect ratio of 1.43:1, according to CGV.

The cinema also presents "4DX With ScreenX" — a cinema experience that combines both the multisensory moving chairs of 4DX and the panoramic three-screen presentation of ScreenX. This is the first theater in the world to combine the two widely exported South Korean technologies. All 40 seats feature a new "sway & twist" motion technology, which includes a wider range of movements, including switching directions, super acceleration and drifting.

CGV has dedicated one of the multiplex's screens to local indie films. Named after Oldboy auteur Park Chan-wook, it is designed to present only art films. Part of the ticket sale proceeds will go to supporting the South Korean indie industry. Photographs taken by Park himself are on display in the hallway leading to the theater.

Seo Jung, CEO of CJ CGV, told reporters during the opening ceremony that he sees the new Yongsan I'Park branch as a prime example of the "post-multiplex age," and promised to "continue to lead the evolution of cinemas through groundbreaking innovations."