Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) and Jet Tone Production announced
today that The Grandmaster will be the first Chinese movie mixed
in Dolby® Atmos™ to be shown in the United States. Dolby
Atmos is the new audio platform that revolutionizes sound in
entertainment. The Grandmaster will be released theatrically in
the United States on August 23 by the Weinstein Company.
The Grandmaster is directed by award-winning director Wong Kar
Wai. “The Grandmaster is a Chinese kung fu story that is not only
about physical fighting,” the director said, “but also about such
intangibles as chi, the mind, and the spirit, which are never
easy concepts to express. I have been extremely impressed by the
powerful enhancements to storytelling that Dolby Atmos makes possible. The
Grandmaster in Dolby Atmos will use sound to transport audiences
right into the film action.”
The US version of The Grandmaster was mixed in Dolby Atmos
by Kantana Sound Studio in Bangkok, Thailand, the first mixing studio
equipped with Dolby Atmos in Southeast Asia. Traithep Wongpaiboon,
Senior Vice President, Kantana Sound Studio, said: “Dolby Atmos is the
most powerful sound technology we have ever used. With Dolby Atmos, the
sound moves around and above the audiences, creating a soundfield so
realistic that film audiences feel as if they are in the center of the
action.”
“We are delighted that internationally renowned director Wong Kar Wai
chose to mix his latest picture in Dolby Atmos for the US release,” said
Mike Chao, Managing Director, Greater China, Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby
Atmos brings a natural lifelike audio experience to movie theatres,
giving filmmakers creative freedom to place and move sounds anywhere in
the auditorium, including overhead, for added realism and impact.”
“Dolby Atmos delivers the best next-generation audio experience for all
film genres, including martial arts. We are very excited to be at the
forefront of bringing a premium entertainment experience to moviegoers
with The Grandmaster, featuring Dolby Atmos sound, and believe
that this is a big step for us to help drive innovation in the cinema,”
said Erik Lomis, President of Theatrical Distribution and Home
Entertainment for the Weinstein Company.
The Grandmaster stars Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang and was first
released in mainland China on January 8, 2013. A Jet Tone Production, The
Grandmaster will be distributed by the Weinstein Company to 800
screens in the United States, including select theatres equipped with
Dolby Atmos technology.
About Dolby Atmos
Dolby Laboratories is equipping the cinema world with its new Dolby
Atmos technology. Dolby Atmos unleashes the potential of sound in
storytelling by providing filmmakers the creative freedom to easily
place or move specific sounds anywhere in the movie theatre, not just
where there happen to be speakers. The result is what moviegoers have
described as the most engaging and lifelike cinema experience ever.
Introduced in April 2012, Dolby Atmos has been embraced by all the major
Hollywood studios, six Academy Award® winning directors, and
10 Academy Award winning sound mixers, among others. More than 200 Dolby
Atmos screens have been installed or committed to in 27 countries with
more than 85 exhibitor partners. More than 60 films from nine different
countries—representing a broad range of genres, from action thrillers
and animated features, to comedy and horror—have been or are scheduled
to be released with Dolby Amos sound since the first film debuted in
June 2012. Dolby Atmos has received technical achievement awards from
both the Hollywood Post Alliance and the Cinema Audio Society.
For the latest list of Dolby Atmos titles, visit dolby.com/atmosmovies.
To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit dolby.com/Atmos.
ABOUT THE GRANDMASTER
THE GRANDMASTER is the highly-anticipated new film by acclaimed
director Wong Kar Wai. Six years in the planning and three years in the
making, THE GRANDMASTER is an epic action feature inspired by the life
and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man. The story spans the
tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last
dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age
of Chinese martial arts. Filmed in a range of stunning locations that
include the snow-swept landscapes of Northeast China and the subtropical
South, THE GRANDMASTER features virtuoso performances by some of the
greatest stars of contemporary cinema.
With THE GRANDMASTER, Wong Kar Wai has made a kung fu film like no
other. Years of research before production and a virtual battalion of
martial arts trainers on set ensured that THE GRANDMASTER portrays both
the Chinese martial arts and the world of the martial artists with
unprecedented authenticity, with fight scenes choreographed by renowned
action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (THE MATRIX, KILL BILL, CROUCHING
TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.) The trio of international superstars at the
film’s heart—Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang, and Chang Chen—all underwent
several years of rigorous and extremely challenging kung fu training for
their roles.
Shot by French director of photography Philippe Le Sourd and with art
direction by Wong’s longtime collaborators William Chang Suk Ping and
Alfred Yau Wai Ming, The
Grandmaster represents a new chapter in the martial arts
genre and in Wong Kar Wai’s own stellar career.
About Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) is the global leader in technologies that
are essential elements in the best entertainment experiences. Founded in
1965 and best known for high-quality audio and surround sound in
environments from the cinema to the living room to mobile devices, Dolby
creates innovations that enrich entertainment at the movies, at home, or
on the go. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby
technologies, please visit www.dolby.com.
About the Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution
company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the
brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses
Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which
has released such popular franchises as Scream, Spy Kids,
and Scary Movie. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a
broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been
commercial and critical successes. TWC releases took home eight 2012
Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio’s history. The
tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist
and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay’s Undefeated.
The Artist brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture
statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.
Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as Grindhouse;
1408; I’m Not There; The Great Debaters; Vicky
Cristina Barcelona; The Reader; The Road; Halloween;
The Pat Tillman Story; Piranha 3D; Inglourious Basterds;
A Single Man; Blue Valentine; The Company Men; Miral;
Scre4m; Submarine; Dirty Girl; Apollo 18; Our
Idiot Brother; I Don’t Know How She Does It; Sarah’s Key;
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D; My Week with Marilyn;
The Iron Lady; W.E.; Coriolanus; Undefeated; The
Artist; Bully; The Intouchables; Lawless; Killing
Them Softly; The Master; Silver Linings Playbook; Django
Unchained; Quartet; Escape from Planet Earth; Dark
Skies; The Sapphires; Scary Movie 5; and Kon-Tiki.
Currently in release are Unfinished Song and Fruitvale Station.
Upcoming releases include The Butler, The Grandmaster, and Salinger.
TWC is active in television production, led by former Miramax Films
President of Production Meryl Poster. TWC is the studio behind such hit
television series as the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award
winning reality series Project Runway and its spin-off series Project
Runway All Stars and Project Accessory; the VH1
reality series Mob Wives and its spin-off series Mob Wives Chicago
and Big Ang; and the critically acclaimed scripted HBO
comedy/crime series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which
also received a Peabody Award. The company is in production on the
upcoming TLC series Welcome to Myrtle Manor, the A&E series Rodeo
Queens, and the Lifetime reality competition show Supermarket
Superstar, hosted by Stacy Keibler. Among TWC’s other projects in
development for television are the martial-arts epic Marco Polo
for Starz, an untitled private eye procedural for FX, and The Nanny
Diaries, developed by ABC with a pilot by Amy Sherman Palladino.
Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories. Dolby Atmos is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. All
other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.
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Copyright Business Wire 2013