M+E Daily

The European expansion of Dolby Cinema that was announced by Dolby June 13 presents a “major opportunity” for the company, according to Kevin Yeaman, its CEO and president. Since being introduced in 2015, Dolby Cinema, has been expanding globally and is now “getting some good traction in Europe,” he told the William Blair Growth Stock Conference in Chicago the same day as the announcement.

As part of the announcement, made at the CineEurope trade show in Barcelona, Dolby said it signed a deal for the first deployment of Dolby Cinema in the U.K. with Odeon Cinemas Group. The rollout will include seven Dolby Cinema sites opening nationwide there over the next several years and Odeon Cinemas Group also confirmed that Dolby servers, processors and speakers will be used for all its European entities going forward, Dolby said.

Dolby also said in the announcement that it signed a deal with Kinopolis to bring the first Dolby Cinema to Germany, later this year at the Mathäser Palast in Munich, and Dolby will also be expanding its Dolby Cinema portfolio in France with Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé in Marseille at La Joliette later this year. In May 2017, Dolby said Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé planned to open 10 Dolby Cinema locations, including seven in France and three in the Netherlands. Dolby and Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé opened France’s first Dolby Cinema at Pathé Massy in October.

The Dolby Cinema premium movie theater offering includes Dolby Atmos and a version of the Dolby Vision projection system specifically designed for cinemas, Yeaman pointed out at the William Blair investor conference, adding: “In a typical cinema-going experience, you would have experienced a contrast ratio, the difference between darks and lights, of about 4,000 to 1. But with Dolby Cinema, you’ll experience peak contrast ratios of over 1 million to 1. It’s a completely different experience.”

That significant difference in contrast ratio is “noticed by the creative community and it’s noticed by consumers,” he said.

With the company’s “major” U.S. theatrical partner, AMC Entertainment, Dolby recently announced the opening of its 100th U.S. screen featuring Dolby Cinema, he noted.

Dolby also has Dolby Cinema partners in China, he pointed out, adding: “Globally now, we have opened over 150 screens.”

All combined, more than 380 Dolby Cinema sites have either been “installed or committed to across the globe with more than 165 titles released or announced” so far, Dolby said in its announcement.

The China partners include Jinyi Cinemas, one of the largest cinema circuits in China, which recently announced plans to open 20 Dolby Cinema locations in China over the next four years, Dolby said.

Other global partners include Shochiku Multiplex Theatre, which recently signed a deal for the first deployments of Dolby Cinema in Japan.

One big advantage of Dolby Cinema is that the company shares in the box office revenue, a new business model for it, and “creates a recurring revenue stream for us and one where we think there’s attractive growth opportunities for us,” Yeaman said June 13.

Dolby also pointed to the strength of Atmos theatrically in its announcement. “More than 4,000 Dolby Atmos enabled cinema screens have been installed or committed to globally, and over 1,000 features released or announced in Dolby Atmos,” it said in the news release.

Upcoming Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision titles for Dolby Cinema presentations include Disney/Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” June 15, Universal’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” June 22, Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and the Wasp” July 6, Universal’s “Skyscraper” July 13, Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” July 26, Fox’s “The Predator” Sept. 14, Sony’s “Venom” Oct.5, Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” Nov. 2, Warner’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” Nov. 16, Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2” Nov. 21, Sony’s animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Dec. 14, Warner’s “Aquaman” Dec. 21, Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” Dec. 25, Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel” March 8, Disney’s live action “Dumbo” March 29 and Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Avengers 4” May 3.

Meanwhile, “we continue to see opportunities to do more” to incorporate Dolby audio into home devices, “in particular, in emerging markets as broadcasters continue to evolve from standard definition television to high definition,” Yeaman said. Dolby also continues to see growing opportunities in the mobile device arena, he said.