IMAX Corporation and Rave Motion Pictures announced last week that they have reached a deal in which Rave will install 13 IMAX digital theaters at existing Rave locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

According the press release, six installations will be complete by November 2010, and the remaining seven are scheduled to open in early 2011. After all have been installed, Rave will operate a total of 17 IMAX theaters.

"It's very clear that consumers associate the IMAX brand with the best way to go to the movies, and we believe that sentiment fits ideally with the direction and image of the Rave brand," said Tom Stephenson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rave Cinemas, LLC. "Many factors contributed to our decision to expand our IMAX business, including the ongoing success of Hollywood films in the format, the impressive film slate, and the favorable economics of IMAX's digital projection system."

Three of the four existing Rave IMAX theaters will be converted from film to digital IMAX, which uses dual digital projectors to fill the large IMAX screens. The systems will be able to show both 2D and 3D IMAX presentations.

Rave Motion Pictures operates 61 locations around the United States, making it the fifth largest movie theater chain in the country.

Source: IMAX Press Release