23/04/2010

By this week signing a non-exclusive deal with Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI), Norwegian cinema organization Film & Kino now has six Hollywood studios on board for its complete national rollout of digital screens, set to begin immediately.

Under the agreement, subject to booking terms, SPRI will supply its films in digital format to Norwegian cinemas with DCI-compliant digital projection systems, and will contribute financially to Norwegian cinemas’ digital (or D) conversion whose costs – estimated at around NOK 390 million (€48.5m) – will be shared with Film & Kino and municipal cinemas. A similar deal was concluded last June with Twentieth Century Fox, United International Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International and Warner Bros Pictures International.

Commenting on the SPRI deal, Director of Consultants at Film & Kino Jorgen Stensland said: “Digital Cinema will enable exhibitors and distributors to realize substantial benefits, including higher quality, non-degradable prints and better protection against piracy. Equally important, digital cinema expands the type of programming opportunities available to audiences, such as digital 3D, alternative content and live satellite events, which traditional 35mm film projectors could not deliver.”

Last February, Film & Kino hired Unique Cinema System to do the D-conversion of the majority of its screens (approximately 350). All financial and technical elements for the digital changeover are in place, and by the end of 2011 Norway should be the first country in the world to have a nationwide digital rollout in its cinemas.