The IMAX Corporation today, in association with Academy
Award-winning actor Tom Hanks, and aerospace technology leader
Lockheed Martin Corporation, announced a new IMAX 3-D space
film, which will take moviegoers to the moon and allow them to
walk side-by-side with the brave astronauts of the Apollo
program.
IMAX will produce “Magnificent Desolation” along with Hanks’
and Gary Goetzman’s production company Playtone. Lockheed
Martin will sponsor it.
“NASA is proud to collaborate with Playtone, as well as
continue our successful relationships with IMAX and Lockheed
Martin,” said Glenn Mahone, Assistant Administrator for Public
Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Tom Hanks’
enthusiasm for exploration is clearly evident in his previous
productions that chronicle NASA’s remarkable history, and we
believe ‘Magnificent Desolation’ is a wonderful opportunity to
capture the interest and curiosity of the next generation of
explorers.”
The film will take the audience to the surface of the moon, to
the Ocean of Storms, the Fra Mauro Highlands and the Taurus
Littrow Valley, as well as the Sea of Tranquility, as only
IMAX 3-D cameras can. “Magnificent Desolation” continues
IMAX’s space film legacy and its unique production partnership
with Lockheed Martin and NASA.
We believe ‘Magnificent Desolation’ holds the potential to be
extremely successful given the exciting subject matter and Tom
Hanks’ passion and creative vision. The film will be designed
by Playtone and IMAX to play at both commercial and
institutional IMAX theaters for many years,” said IMAX Co-CEOs
and Co-Chairmen Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. “We
are thrilled to partner once again with Lockheed Martin, which
together with NASA and IMAX have created one of the highest-
grossing large-format film franchises, featuring space films
that have cumulatively grossed more than $350 million.”
“For nearly 20 years, Lockheed Martin has teamed with IMAX and
NASA to produce films with the goal of educating and inspiring
young and old about the wonders of math, science and technology
through the prism of space,” said Dennis Boxx, Senior Vice
President, Corporate Communications, Lockheed Martin
Corporation. “And through our newly formed partnership with
IMAX, NASA and now the creative team headed by Tom Hanks, a new
generation will be enticed by the excitement and drama the
astronauts of the Apollo program brought into our homes as they
dared to dream of space and set foot on the lunar surface.”
IMAX space films have been seen by over 85 million people and
played in over 15 languages worldwide. The most recent
collaboration between Lockheed Martin, NASA and IMAX was the
extremely successful release of “SPACE STATION,” an IMAX 3-D
film released in April 2002, which has grossed nearly $70
million at the box office and continues to play in theaters
worldwide.
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