Dolby Laboratories and Walt Disney Studios announced recently that Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens will be available as a Dolby Cinema™ experience. Dolby Cinema combines Dolby Vision™ on the video side and Dolby Atmos® on the sound side to deliver what should be a higher quality experience when seeing the movie.

For more information about Dolby Cinema in general, please see the Journal article we published in December 2014 titled Dolby Announces "Dolby Cinema."

“Dolby Cinema technology is an epic, premium way to go to the movies,” said J.J. Abrams, the writer, producer, and director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I am honored to be a part of the continuation of the Star Wars saga, and can’t wait for people to see The Force Awakens through the power of the Dolby experience.”

“Dolby has been deeply involved with Star Wars since the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977,” said Kevin Yeaman, President and CEO, Dolby Laboratories. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most highly anticipated movies ever, and we are excited to continue our legacy of delivering the most advanced filmmaking and playback capabilities to bring Star Wars audiences an experience that only Dolby Cinema can offer.”

In theory, this should create the best presentation of the movie that is available anywhere. Obviously, it's up to the individual theaters to succeed at that lofty goal.

There are currently eight locations in the United States that feature Dolby Cinema, and they are all AMC Entertainment locations:

• AMC Burbank 16 - Burbank, California
• AMC North Point Mall 12 - Alpharetta, Georgia
• AMC Hawthorn 12 - Vernon Hills, Illinois
• AMC Town Center 20 - Leawood, Kansas
• AMC BarryWoods 24 - Kansas City, Missouri
• AMC Empire 25 - New York, New York
  
• AMC Village on the Parkway 9 - Addison, Texas
• AMC Deerbrook 24 - Humble, Texas

Source: Dolby Laboratories, Walt Disney Studios Press Release