The Carmike Shiloh 14 in Billings, Montana opened their IMAX auditorium to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 4, 2015. According to an article published recently in the Billings Gazette, the theater's BigD auditorium was converted to an IMAX auditorium, and the BigD installation was moved to a smaller auditorium:

The remodel at Shiloh 14 took almost three months. The project to turn the former BigD Theater into an Imax and move the BigD over to a smaller screening began Aug. 31 and wrapped up this week. The opening was on hold for a week, pending a few last-minute glitches with a speaker. The new Imax will hold 311 people, and the BigD now holds 248 people.

Every wire in the theater had to be Imax-certified, according to operations manager Josh Fortney.

What makes Imax so special is the floor-to-ceiling curved screen and the use of two projectors instead of one, which the typical screening room has.

“Instead of one 6,000-watt projector, the Imax has two 7,000-watt projectors,” Fortney said.

Click the Read link below to view the full article.

Looking at the photo that accompanies the article, one notices something odd when it comes to IMAX auditoriums. The screen looks quite a bit like what would be in a traditional, non-IMAX auditorium. Did they just leave the original BigD auditorium's screen?

Some Background into IMAX Conversions

The original IMAX screens that were found in museums and other destinations to show documentaries (which is where IMAX made a name for itself) were nearly square. Those screens were typically about 72' wide by 53' high (some were larger, like the 117'x96' screen in Sydney, Australia, some were smaller). Several years ago, IMAX began installing what it called MPX conversions, where they would take an existing auditorium in a megaplex and convert into an IMAX auditorium, to capitalize on a growing number of mainstream movies that they were showing on IMAX screens. These conversions were often much smaller, prompting a famous rant by TV and movie actor Aziz Ansari about his disappointment about these smaller screens.

The IMAX Screen at the Shiloh 14

If you look at the photo in the Billings Gazette article, a trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is illuminating the screen. We can see by counting the ceiling tiles that the screen is approximately 48' feet across. That clip is 2.4:1, so that would make the projected image about 20' high. The screen is taller, about a 2:1 aspect ratio, which would put it at approximately 24' high.

If the 48' width is accurate (we're estimating by counting ceiling tiles in a dark theater taken by a camera off-center), that makes the Shiloh 14's IMAX screen a little on the small side when compared to other IMAX conversions and non-IMAX premium offerings from various chains, including Carmike's own BigD. After all, our report from when the BigD auditorium opened (which is now this IMAX), it had a 62' wide screen. That's larger than this IMAX screen appears to be!

Ticket Pricing

Typically, movies showing in IMAX auditoriums are more expensive than those in the location's traditional auditoriums. Such upcharges have become common for non-IMAX premium screens, including this location's own BigD auditorium. Carmike's web site shows that the price of an adult evening ticket to a 2D show at the Shiloh 14 is $10.75 on weekends and $10.50 during the week. They list the BigD shows as $12.75.

The pricing hasn't been updated to include IMAX shows yet, but we found that they are selling tickets for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 The IMAX Experience (a 2D show) for $15.50 for a Tuesday evening show. When In the Heart of the Sea: An IMAX 3D Experience opens this Friday, evening tickets for adults to this 3D movie will be $18.75. The 11:10pm Friday evening show of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens - An IMAX 3D Experience will set adults back $20.25 while Saturday night's shows (8pm) are $18.75. (We're not sure why the 11:10pm show is extra.)

Based on this, not only is the IMAX screen not any bigger than the BigD screen that preceded it, but the ticket prices are higher.

This makes us wonder: why install IMAX at all, when they could have just kept the BigD auditorium and installed an Atmos sound system?

If you have an answer, please let us know by leaving a comment below!

Related News Articles

• IMAX coming to Billings -- KTVQ [Jul 8, 2015]
• Get ready to see holiday blockbusters in Imax at Shiloh 14 in Billings --Billings Gazette [Jul 8, 2015]
• IMAX theaters coming to Billings, Missoula --Billings Gazette [Jul 7, 2015]