'Rise of the Guardians,' 'Gravity,' 'Pacific Rim' Will Be Mixed in Dolby Atmos

Dolby Laboratories has revealed three new titles that will be mixed in its Atmos sound format: Dreamworks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians, and Warner Bros.’ 2013 releases Gravity and Pacific Rim.

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The Atmos version of Rise of the Guardians was mixed at Dolby Burbank, led by re-recording mixers Jim Bolt and Oscar winner Andy Nelson, and supervising sound editor and three-time Academy Award winner Richard King.

Atmos was designed to create a lifelike sound experience by lining speakers along the theater’s front, rear and side walls, as well as overhead. It can play up to 128 channels of sound at once.

With Rise of the Guardians, a total of six Atmos titles are scheduled to be released this year. The format was launched last June with Disney/ Pixar’s Brave. The other Atmos titles include three from Fox—Taken 2, Chasing Mavericks and Life of Pi—plus the Dec. 14 release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Warner Bros.

It has not yet been announced how many screens with offer Rise of the Guardians in Atmos. To date, Dolby has announced Atmos support in roughly 15 theaters worldwide. However it told The Hollywood Reporter that it expects 80-100 Atmos screens for the Dec. 14 release of The Hobbit.

Rise of the Guardians will additionally be mixed in Dolby Atmos for the following languages in international markets: French, Norwegian, 
Danish, Spanish, Portuguese, 
German, 
Italian and 
Chinese Mandarin.

Currently scheduled to conduct the Atmos mix for Gravity is multiple Academy Award nominated re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay in collaboration with re-recording mixer Niv Adiri. Academy Award nominated Glenn Freemantle will be the supervising sound editor and sound designer on the Atmos mix. Its 2013 release date has not yet been announced.

Pacific Rim’s Dolby Atmos mix will be led by Academy Award winning re-recording mixers John T. Reitz and Greg Rudloff who will be accompanied by Tim LeBlanc. Scott Gershin will be the supervising sound editor. The film is scheduled to open July 12.

Dolby expects more than 15 Hollywood titles, including Gravity and Pacific Rim to offer Atmos sound during 2013.

A handful of Atmos-equipped mixing stages have been announced at sites including Skywalker Sound, the Zanuck theater on the Fox lot and Park Road Post in Wellington, NZ.

Dolby aims to have roughly 1000 Atmos-equipped theaters worldwide by the end of next year.

Rise of the Guardians will additionally be offered in Barco’s Auro 11.1 sound format, another new immersive sound system entering the digital cinema market.