The Malco Paradiso theater in East Memphis
IMAX will soon return to Memphis with a new opening this week at the Paradiso Cinema Grill.
The “immersive” theater experience will open at the East Memphis movie house on Thursday at 7 p.m. with the release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” When it opens, Paradiso’s will be only IMAX theater in Memphis.
The Pink Palace Museum opened its Crew Training International IMAX in January 1995. The museum closed it in January 2014 and remodeled the space into the CTI 3D Giant Theater that’s now open.
“IMAX’s cutting-edge projection system, which delivers crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital sound system, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie,” company officials described the experience in a news release. “IMAX grabs your senses. You don’t just hear the powerful sound system, you feel it all around you. Visually, there is no frame. IMAX’s custom theatre design creates a picture that is higher, wider and closer – filling your peripheral view.”
IMAX and Memphis-based Malco Theaters Inc. announced in September that they would team up on two IMAX theaters, one in Memphis and a second at the Malco Razorback Cinema Grill in Fayetteville, Ark. They are the first IMAX theaters for the 102-year-old Malco, which operates 350 movie screens across 34 locations.
“We looked at all of our options regarding a large format solution and came to the conclusion that no one has a better combination of quality, full immersion cinema, and brand awareness than IMAX,” said Stephen Lightman, Malco’s president and CEO.
