Ron Seifried | On 22, Sep 2014

Hollywood has an attendance problem. The dilemma is less that people are spending cash to see movies on the big screen. The growing popularity of legitimate services of Video on Demand (VOD), online streaming (Netflix, Amazon) and BluRay, or the illegitimate file sharing of peer-to-peer Bit Torrent sites, 2014 box office numbers are down 15% from last year.

 

To entice jaded audiences back to theaters, a new gimmick has been developed that guarantees will have a brief shelf life despite the obligatory hype preceding it. Forget 3D, IMAX or Smell-O-Vision from past experiments. The new technology is Escape from Barco, a panoramic viewing experience that will give the viewer a 270-degree wraparound imagery, projected on a total of three screens; the main screen in the middle, and two additional screens on the right and left sides, for a colossal wraparound picture.

 

The first film to utilize this method will be The Maze Runner. The film will project on the main screen, while additional visual special effects will be projected on the side screens. Despite being the first film to showcase the new technology, the production was not filmed utilizing the three screen approach; the SFX present an alternative virtual perspective. 

 

Before rushing out and catch The Maze Runner on an Escape theater, it should be noted there are only five theaters in the U.S. that can project in this new panoramic alternative; Two in L.A.., one in Plano, Texas and two in Redwood, CA.

 

Despite delivering a whopping 270 degree surround visual, the Belgium developer of Escape is not the only company on the block. In Germany there is Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits working on a 360-degree camera system, along with Jaunt’s still in development 360-degree cinematic VR. 

 

Will the new technology have the lasting power of synchronized sound and Technicolor, or will it disappear like other forgotten gimmicks like Smell-o-Vision and Sensurround? Maybe it will nestle in the elitist center of IMAX and 3D projection. Only time will tell if audiences are willing to cough up more than $25 for an extra peripheral view.