The Polar Express

The Polar Express: an IMAX 3D Experience Back on Track to IMAX(R) Theatres in November 2005

Unprecedented Success of First Run Brings Highest Grossing Digitally Re-Mastered IMAX Release Back for Another Holiday Season

LOS ANGELES, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience, the highest grossing and most successful IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-mastering) release to date, will return to IMAX(R) theatres in November 2005.

First released on November 10, 2004, and co-financed by Shangri-La Entertainment, the film broke virtually every box-office record for a digitally re-mastered Hollywood film in IMAX's format, and set the record for the highest grossing week in IMAX's 35-year history.

The IMAX(R) 3D version of The Polar Express has grossed an estimated $45 million to date, including more than $10 million on just 22 international screens, for a cumulative per-screen average of more than $520,000. The film continued to post sold-out shows across the IMAX theatre network well after the holidays, registering a per-screen average of more than $100,000 in January 2005.

"The Polar Express generated remarkable box office returns in IMAX theatres and the feedback from moviegoers who experienced it in IMAX 3D was that the experience was nothing short of amazing," said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures.

"We were especially impressed with the legs of the IMAX DMR version, as it was selling out shows and packing IMAX theatres weeks into the new year. We believe new audiences, as well as repeat customers, will want to make The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience part of their holiday tradition."

"The outstanding success of The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience convinced us that this film can be a holiday perennial, similar to It's a Wonderful Life, that will draw audiences year after year," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler.

"Commercial exhibitors took note of the movie's performance to date in IMAX theatres, leading to increased signings momentum, and many of our customers have expressed a desire to bring the film back for another run."

Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, continued, "It is a pleasure to once again work with our partners at Warner Bros. Pictures on this groundbreaking Robert Zemeckis production, and we look forward to offering moviegoers another chance to be captivated by the classic Chris Van Allsburg tale presented in stunning IMAX 3D."

Castle Rock Entertainment presents, in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, a Playtone/ImageMovers/Golden Mean Production of a Robert Zemeckis Film: Tom Hanks in The Polar Express. Directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Zemeckis & William Broyles, Jr., the film is produced by Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, Gary Goetzman and William Teitler and is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. Tom Hanks, Jack Rapke and Chris Van Allsburg are the executive producers.

The production team includes directors of photography Don Burgess, A.S.C. and Robert Presley; production designers Rick Carter and Doug Chiang; and editors Jeremiah O'Driscoll & R. Orlando Duenas. Senior visual effects supervisors are Ken Ralston and Jerome Chen. Co-producer is Steven Boyd. Music score is by Alan Silvestri, and original songs by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri.

The Polar Express is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Soundtrack album on Warner Sunset/Reprise Records. This film is rated G by the MPAA.