One of the world’s most beloved Christmas tales, The
Nutcracker, has returned to the big screen in a new interpretation. The
official premiere of the new Disney film The Nutcracker
and the Four Realms saw the
unequalled cinema projector – the Christie®
CP4325-RGB pure laser with RealLaser™
technology and the CineLife™ electronics platform – conjure up a magical
atmosphere in Moscow’s Zaryadye Concert Hall.
Technical support for the
premiere was provided by Asia Cinema, Christie’s long-time partner in Russia.
Since Zaryadye Concert Hall first opened its doors in
September of this year, its stage has already played host to famous orchestras
and world-renowned musicians. The screening of the Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures
Releasing (WDSSPR) movie was the first international
premiere to take place at the venue, and specialists from Asia Cinema were
invited to make WDSSPR’s plans a reality.
“No other venue in Russia can match the
acoustic and technical specs of this multifunctional hall. The space
accommodates an audience of 1,600 and can be transformed to suit the format of
an event, concert, or show. But holding a movie premiere here was actually
something of a challenge for us,” explains Asia Cinema CEO Arseny Kuzminich.
“We developed some non-standard solutions which allowed us to make optimal use
of all of the features that the concert hall has to offer, including its near-perfect
concert acoustics, while ensuring optimal technological conditions for
premiering the movie. Most importantly, we decided to use the Christie CP4325-RGB
pure laser projector for the premiere. This was quite unambiguously the only
choice to meet the challenge of ensuring a premium level of brightness and
image quality.”
The Christie CP4325-RGB pure laser with
RealLaser™ technology and the CineLife™ electronics platform is a compact, DCI
compliant, all-in-one projector. It stands out for its superior image quality,
long service life, and low cost of ownership. This model is the brightest unit
in the Christie RealLaser family.
Christie
CP4325-RGB cinema projector
Other factors also influenced the choice. “We needed to
come up with a compact way of housing the equipment in a specially constructed
projector cabin right there in the hall, as the existing central control room
was not set up for the requirements of a movie screening. Then there was the
challenge of ensuring low noise levels. We also had to find a projector model
that didn’t need a separate fan and required minimal cooling. The only
projector that could do all of this simultaneously was the Christie
CP4532-RGB,” added Petr Provorov, head of Asia Cinema’s Technical Department.
“We ended up doing something totally new to us. The custom-projector cabin we
provided turned out well, as it’s easy to convert and assemble, and we can
certainly see something like it coming in handy again in the future.”
When the big day finally dawned, magic and
celebration were in the air. On display in the lobby of the concert hall was a
limited line of dresses from Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina, inspired by
Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. In the foyer, guests
attending the premiere could lose themselves in the fairytale by exploring
themed areas: the Land of Flowers, the Land of Sweets, the Land of Snowflakes,
and the mysterious fourth kingdom, previously known as the Land of Amusements.
The movie was introduced by CEO of Disney
Russia, Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan. Before the screening began, the audience were
treated to a surprise when singer Matteo Bocelli performed the song Fall on
Me from the closing credits of the fairytale adventure.
Adil Zerouali, Cinema Sales Director for
Europe at Christie, told us: “We are delighted
that our long-term partners chose a solution from the latest generation of
Christie projectors with RGB pure laser technology for this Disney premiere at
a Moscow venue as significant as the Zaryadye. Asia Cinema strives to use only
the best equipment to ensure that audiences are truly spellbound by what’s
happening on-screen; that’s why they equip cinemas with the technology of the
future, today. This makes for a fruitful collaboration that we at Christie
value greatly.”
Ekaterina
Petropavlovskaya, WDSSPR Technical Director, also praised the event: "Our
partnership with Christie and Asia Cinema for the premiere of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was
hugely productive. We were struck by the quality of the screening, which was
achieved with the help of the Christie RGB pure laser cinema projector under
unconventional conditions in a cinema and concert hall. The contrast,
brightness and colour rendition were perfect. Our first experience of
cooperation was a successful and highly rewarding one, and we received great
feedback from the guests who attended the premiere."
Kuzminich summed up the experience, saying:
“Both the premiere of the movie and the premiere of the new Christie CP4325-RGB
pure laser projector, which was used for the first time in Russia to show a
film outside of cinemas, were a great success. Our portfolio of projects using
this new generation of laser technology is growing, and we’ll soon be ready to
say much more about it.”
