CULVER CITY, Calif.,
April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony
Pictures Entertainment announced today that it is teaming with both
Barco and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to mix Elysium, the
highly anticipated second feature film from writer-director
Neill Blomkamp, in both the Auro
11.1 system and the Dolby® Atmos™ system, which deliver a more
natural and realistic soundtrack that moves sound around and above
audiences. Elysium, from TriStar Pictures in
association with Media Rights Capital, will be the first Sony
Pictures Entertainment title to be mixed in these state-of-the-art
formats. Elysium is set for release in theaters nationwide
on August 9, 2013.
Commenting on the announcement, Rory
Bruer, president of Worldwide Distribution for Sony
Pictures, said, "We're thrilled to be working with both Barco and
Dolby to explore and support their technologies as we incorporate
them into Elysium. These new, immersive, breakthrough
audio technologies, combined with other state-of-the-art
enhancements, are rapidly perfecting the theatrical experience for
moviegoers."
Craig Berkey and Chris Scarabosio will be creating both the Auro
11.1 and Dolby Atmos mixes. Commenting on the announcement,
they said, "Barco and Dolby are breaking new ground in creating an
aural experience for moviegoers. Each of these technologies
enables us to further sonically immerse the audience as we are able
to more accurately pan elements to enhance the detail of our
mixes."
Auro 11.1 by Barco is designed along three layers of sound
(Traditional Surround sound, with Height, and Overhead layers).
Thanks to this layered approach, the technology not only enables
sound mixers to move objects around in space, it also allows them
to reproduce the immersive aspects of a film soundtrack in a more
natural way.
Dolby Atmos is a new audio platform that enhances the experience
of sound in entertainment. It allows sound designers and mixers a
new level of creative control and ensures that cinema audiences
will experience the full impact of their mix regardless of theatre
configuration.
"Dolby Atmos gives sound designers and mixers unprecedented
flexibility to apply their creativity to telling stories through
sound," said Doug Darrow, Senior
Vice President, Cinema, Dolby Laboratories. "With Dolby Atmos sound
experts can now easily place and move specific sounds anywhere in
the movie theatre. Audiences are going to love Elysium and
Dolby Atmos is going to make them feel like they are right in the
center of all the action."
"All of us at Barco are extremely grateful for the opportunity
to work with Sony Pictures on the creation of an Auro 11.1
immersive sound mix for Elysium," comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director of Strategic
Business Development for Barco. "Since performing the industry's
first immersive mix for a feature film in January 2012 with Lucasfilm's Red Tails,
Auro 11.1 has been used in nine films to date. With the honor of
adding Elysium to our title slate, this brings the total to
15 films in our pipeline confirmed to be mixed in Auro 11.1."
About Elysium
In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy,
who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and
the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet. The
people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that
is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the
chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need
to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he
reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him
against Elysium's Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if
he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of
people on Earth as well. Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. The QED International /
Alphacore Studios / Kinberg Genre production is produced by
Bill Block, Neill Blomkamp, and Simon Kinberg.
About Sony Pictures:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony
Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global
operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and
distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution;
television networks; digital content creation and distribution;
operation of studio facilities; and development of new
entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional
information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.
About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops
visualization products for a variety of selected professional
markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing,
Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North
America and Asia Pacific.
Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90
countries with about 3,900 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales
of 1.156 billion euro in 2012.
About Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) unleashes
the potential of sound in storytelling by giving sound experts the
creative freedom to easily place or move specific sounds anywhere
in the movie theatre, not just wherever there happen to be
speakers.
Introduced in April 2012, Dolby
Atmos' innovative approach to cinema sound has been embraced by
major studios, award-winning directors and sound teams, and leading
exhibitors worldwide. Nearly 40 titles around the world have been
released or are scheduled to be released with Dolby Atmos sound
since Disney/Pixar's Brave was released in June 2012. In 2013,
the Cinema Audio Society gave Dolby Atmos its coveted Technical
Achievement Award for Post Production and Dolby Atmos was
recognized by Popular Science as "The Best of What's New in
2012" for the entertainment category.
For the latest list of Dolby Atmos titles visit,
dolby.com/atmosmovies. To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit
dolby.com/Atmos.
SOURCE Sony Pictures Entertainment