BEIJING, China – (November 7, 2016) – Christie®, a leader in creating and sharing the world’s best visual and audio experiences, is delivering stunning presentations of Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee’s new film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk using customized dual-head ChristieMirage 4KLH RGB laser projection systems during the movie’s premiere in Beijing and Shanghai.
Screened in 4K resolution, stereo 3D, and at 120 frames a second (fps), the film made its debut atBeijing Bona Youtang International Cineplex on November 6, and will premiere at the Shanghai Film Art Center on November 8. The Beijing premiere was attended by director Ang Lee and cast members Joe Alwyn and Mason Lee. The trio will subsequently travel to Shanghai for the final leg of the film’s Asian premiere, which kicked off in Taipei last week.
Director Ang Lee (right) with Joe Alwyn (center) and Mason Lee (left) at the movie premiere in Beijing
“We are very proud to be one of the few cinemas around the world to be equipped with the Christie Mirage 4KLH RGB laser projection system – the only projector that is capable of screening Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in 4K, 3D, and 120fps that’s faithful to director Ang Lee’s vision. This is the ultimate presentation of the movie with bright and highly realistic visuals, and we are excited to offer the most spectacular cinematic experience to our patrons,” said Dong Yu, President, Bona Film Group.
Zhonglun Ren, President, Shanghai Film Group, commented, “Having worked closely with Christie to unveil the world’s first commercial RGB laser projection system in 2014, we are honored and thrilled to be among a select few premium venues worldwide to once again push the technological boundaries of movie presentations by equipping our flagship auditorium with the dual-head Christie Mirage 4KLH RGB laser projection system for screenings director Lee’s technologically groundbreaking film in 4K, 3D, and 120fps. We are proud to play a part in making cinema history with this exceptional movie presentation that no other filmmaker has attempted.”
The Christie Mirage 4KLH system has been specially modified to screen Lee’s ultimate rendition of his story-telling vision. Featuring Christie TruLife™ electronics platform with an industry-leading video-processing pipeline of up to 1.2 Gigapixels per second, and anchored by the Christie Freedom® laser illumination system, the Mirage 4KLH can produce up to 60,000 lumens per head, with potentially up to 120,000 lumens when two projection heads and two sets of RGB laser light sources are used (i.e., in a dual 6-Primary configuration).
The dual Mirage RGB laser projection systems fitted at Beijing Bona Youtang International Cineplex and Shanghai Film Art Center are configured to produce a brightness of 28 foot-lamberts for the finest 3D-viewing experience unmatched by any other cinema in China. In the United States, the dual Christie Mirage projectors delivered the east-coast premiere at the New York Film Festival and are set to repeat this momentous showing for west-coast audiences at the ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on November 10.
The dual Mirage RGB laser projection systems fitted at Beijing Bona Youtang International Cineplex and
Shanghai Film Art Center are configured to produce a brightness of 28 foot-lamberts
“We’re delighted that Bona Film Group and Shanghai Film Group have installed our dual-head Mirage 4KLH system to bring director Ang Lee’s definitive version of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk– in 4K, 3D, and 120fps with a brightness of 28 foot-lamberts – to audiences in Beijing and Shanghai,” said Jason Pei, Deputy General Manager, Christie China. “The Christie Mirage system is the most advanced projection system available, and the only system that can screen this landmark film in the way that the Director intended it to be seen. We are thankful to Bona Film Group and Shanghai Film Group for all their hard work to make the screening of this film in 4K, 3D, and 120 fps a reality. Without their full support and cooperation, this would not have been possible.”
Lin Yu, Vice President, Christie Asia Pacific, added, “Christie has set a new milestone in cinema projection with the presentation of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in the unprecedented format of 4K, 3D, and 120 fps with our Mirage system. From the premiere screenings in New York, Taipei, and now in Beijing and Shanghai, Christie is the only projector manufacturer in the world that is able to display Lee’s vision as intended, and this clearly demonstrates the superiority of our projection technologies.”
Lee, who won two directing Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi, is known for both his dramatic storytelling and adoption of new technologies. For Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which tells the story of a soldier who fought in the Iraq war, Lee decided to push the technological boundaries in order to give the film an “immersive” and “realistic” experience of the reality and emotional journey of soldiers. It is the first ever feature film to be shot in such a high frame rate – over twice the previous record (Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, shot at 48 fps) and five times the standard speed of 24 fps.
