4D Movie Theaters Coming to USA. Would you Pay the Extra Ticket Fee?
Posted on: 07/11/2012 05:14 PM

Narrowly avoiding an enemies bullet, you grab a crow bar and fight off 3 attackers. Just as you knock the 3rd man to the floor, an RPG explodes in front of you, knocking you off balance by the shock of the blast. You have a face full of heat and the smell of burning gunpowder permitting the air around you as you get back to your feet.

Sound like a battle in East Africa? It its - except its coming to your local movie theater. CJ Group of South Korean has said it plans to bring almost 200 4D movie theaters to the US that will not only immerse the audience with 3D video, but also the feeling and smells of a movie.

The seats have "back ticklers" that thump during explosions, a strobe light flashes for intense effect, and there are even fans that create the smells of the movie's atmosphere. Smoke machines are in the back of every seat. The seats themselves move and roll with the action. Its a pretty serious experience!



CJ Group is the largest movie theater group in South Korean, and their 4D experience has been wowing fans there, along with Thailand and Mexico. CJ Group has 29 specialty theaters that regularly screen big Hollywood titles such as"Avatar,""Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and"Prometheus."

Now CJ Group is close to finalizing a deal with an unnamed nationwide U.S. chain to create the 4D theaters, implemented in the next five years. The first will open this year in Los Angeles (of course), New York, and a few other major cities.

Although widely successful in other countries, will Americans be will to pay an extra $8 on top of a normal 3D ticket (which is already expensive enough) for the seemingly novelty experience? It costs $2 million to outfit a single theater, but almost every viewing is sold out, apparently. We can only see what happens when the initial theaters hit our shores.

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