IMAX Opens at Rio Theatre

With the rising price of movie tickets, wouldn't it be nice to actually get more movie, too?

Now customers at the can get just that at the new IMAX theatre, which opens today.

It will be the fourth IMAX screen in Maryland, with the next closest one being the Regal Cinemas Majestic Stadium 20 in Silver Spring.

The first show on the new big-er screen will be Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which opened May 20.

The new theatre, which increases the size of the screen and moves it closer to the audience for a more immersive experience, was refitted to accommodate the new format.

Putting the final touches on the venue took longer than expected, and the original opening date—last Friday—was pushed back until today.

Some movies in the new theatre will be projected in 3D.

Next on the list of movies to screen in the IMAX auditorium will be Super 8 (June 10), Cars 2 (June 24), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (July 15).

The theatre at Rio is part of a deal between AMC and IMAX to install more than 115 IMAX screens across the US and Canada.

AMC already operates 361 theatres—5,203 screens—across the United States and Canada. It operates 24 of the 50 highest grossing theatres across the country, including the top three, according to the company.

At the end of 2010, there were 518 IMAX theatres operating in 46 countries around the world.