Moscow Russia Aerial View - H 2013
Getty ImagesMOSCOW — On July 20, the Russian cinema chain Karo is to inaugurate Russia’s biggest film theater, Karo Vegas 22 with a capacity of 4,477 seats, amid a strong box-office and local films’ best performance in six years.
The 22-screen theater is to open doors as part of the shopping center Vegas Crocus City on the outskirts of Moscow.
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Paul Heth, general director of Karo, Russia’s second largest cinema chain, said in a statement that Karo Vegas 22 is the most ambitious, largest-scale and most expensive project of that kind in Russia, adding that Karo intends to be a contemporary company, quickly accommodating all cutting-edge technology that has become available in the digital era.
The 22-screen theater is to have several LUXE rooms, equipped under an agreement with RealD, a leading global licensor of 3D technologies, signed by Karo last year. Those rooms are to feature a premium large format screen based on Precision White Screen technology, and Auro 11.1 audio system.
In addition to mainstream releases, the theater is to screen art house movies under a newly launched program Karo Arts, old classics and contemporary Russian cinema.
Karo Vegas 22, with a total area of over 18,000 sq. meters, is to become the theater chain’s 30th theater in Russia. The launch is to come against a strong box office, which rose by 9.7% to $718.6 million (24,49 billion rubles) in the first six months of 2014 from the corresponding period of 2013.
Simultaneously, the share of local films has been on the rise. In January through June 2014, Russian releases accounted for 24% of the total box office, up from 18 pecent a year ago, marking the best performance since 2008.
