Hold onto your seat and don’t bring hot coffee.
Regal Cinemas wants to convert a theater at its Regal Avenues Stadium 20 into 4DX.
That is one of those theaters where you experience not only sight and sound – but movement, weather conditions and strong scents.
If you doubt that, consider that the regmovies.com site includes safety guidelines about the 4DX experience, including “Take measures to protect clothing against wind, rain-like conditions, bubbles, and strong scents.”
No contractor is listed for a pending permit to convert the theater at a cost of $750,000 at the 9525 Philips Highway complex.
Regal Cinemas, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, could not be reached.
Regmovies.com lists six theaters with a 4DX theater – two in New York and one each in Los Angles, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Orlando.
What to expect?
“By purchasing a ticket to a 4DX presentation, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to comply with the 4DX Safety Guidelines set forth below, you enter at your own risk, and that neither Regal Cinemas and/or 4DX assumes any responsibility or liability for any injuries or damages suffered as a result of viewing a presentation in a 4DX equipped auditorium,” says the site.
It continues.
“4DX equipped auditoriums employ motion enabled chairs, which create strong vibrations and sensations, as well as other environmental controls for simulated weather or other conditions, such as lightning, rain, flashing (strobe) lights, fog and strong scents.”
Among the other warnings: The 4DX equipment can aggravate existing medical conditions or cause users to suffer a loss of equilibrium or balance, headaches or dizziness and in extraordinary circumstances, epilepsy-like symptoms.
It advises that if you are pregnant, elderly, physically or mentally sensitive or have any of the following health conditions, you should not use a 4DX auditorium: high blood pressure, heart conditions, allergies, neck or back conditions or epilepsy.
The safety guidelines include:
Do not bring hot liquids, such as coffee or tea, into the auditorium and all cold beverages must be in a covered container that fits in the cup holder.
Do not eat or drink during intense scenes when the motion chairs will be most active.
Do not wear delicate clothing or any articles that may be adversely affected by the 4DX feature presentation effects.
The purpose is to bring more customers into the theater as they consider other entertainment options.
Money.CNN.com reported in August 2016 that Regal will have 20 4DX-enabled screens in the United States when it's done with the expansion.
Proboxoffice.com reported in January that CJ 4DPLEX, the world’s first 4D cinema company, ended 2017 with record gross box office and attendance for 4DX.
The site called 4DX the fastest-growing premium cinema format. CJ 4DPLEX is based in Seoul, South Korea, with international offices in Los Angeles and Beijing.
It also said more 4DX locations opened in 2017 than any other year in history, “with the immersive cinema experience today reaching 475 locations worldwide.”
In the past five years, box office revenue and admissions to 4DX theaters worldwide grew from $38 million and 2.9 million to about $230 million and 19 million in 2017, Pro.boxoffice.com said.
As of December, there were 475 4DX locations around the world, up from 346 in December 2016 and 40 in 2012.
From 2013-17, an average of 80 movies per year have been released in 4DX, according to the site. In 2017, 101 titles were shown in 4DX – more than triple the 31 in 2012.