Digital expansion for Palace Cinemas

XDC has struck a deal with Palace Cinemas to supply digital projection systems to the company’s cinemas. The agreement will see DCI-compliant projection systems rolled out in 170 of Palace Cinema’s screens in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary from the second half of 2009. The venture will be co-financed by the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) model.

V.J. Maury, Palace Cinemas’ chief executive, said: “We will be able to provide our audience a full line-up of movies shown perfectly in digital every single time, in every language, dubbed or subtitled, in 2D or 3D. It will also mean more independent movies, live concerts, sports, events and interactive content.” XDC has installed more than 500 digital screens in 10 European countries, and has secured financing of 100 million euros from Fortis Bank to allow the roll out of 2,000 digital screens under the VPF model, the first phase of its European deployment program.

The company is the first to strike VPF agreements with all the six major US studios (Warner, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Sony and Disney).

Source: Screendaily.com