How hot is James Cameron’s “Avatar”? Hot enough that Imax so far has not lined up any other Hollywood movies for its ultra-big screen theaters between Fox’s release of Mr. Cameron’s 3-D science fiction thriller on Dec. 18 and the arrival of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” on March 5. Things could change. But the Imax people are mulling whether the several hundred large screens by then expected to be up and running with commercial films (as opposed to the museum-type fare) will be needed for almost three months to satisfy demand for Mr. Cameron’s first feature film since “Titanic.”
By contrast, Paramount’s “Star Trek” got only two weeks on the Imax circuit, which by the weekend will be playing “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.” And “Terminator Salvation,” also opening next weekend, will have no Imax presence at all.
By the end of next year, new Imax venues should break the bottleneck that currently makes it impossible to open two films on the super-screens at once.
