20 UK Vue cinemas will offer audiences the opportunity to steer a spaceship through an asteroid belt. Two IR cameras will track the audience (the left half raises their hands to veer left, the right half raises their hands to veer right). None of the experience is prerendered—it's all an interactive video game.

As films go 3D, it'll be interesting to see if theaters (and movie makers) take the opportunity to integrate more interactive elements to the experience. Raising my hand in the air, however, is not how I see myself defeating the Decepticons to rule the Universe. [Register Hardware]

Cinesphere - Toronto, Canada
IMAX is a Canadian company, so it makes sense that their first permanent installation, built in 1971, would be in the New York City of the north, Toronto. The Cinesphere is a 752-seat theater boasting an 86-foot wide, 60-foot tall screen, and built in the shape of a Disney-esque dome. It's located at Ontario Place, an amusement park on the shore of Lake Ontario.

L'Hemisferic - Valencia, Spain
If you've only seen straightforward designs for movie theaters, even a (yawn) sphere, Valencia's L'Hemisferic theater will blow you away. It's constructed in the shape of a giant eye, with the theater in the "pupil," and doubles as Europe's largest planetarium. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, it was completed in 1998 and serves as the centerpiece of Valencia's "City of Arts and Sciences."

Darling Harbour - Sydney, Australia
The 540-seat Darling Harbour IMAX, in one of Sydney's most scenic areas, is the largest IMAX screen in the world at 117.2 feet wide and 96.5 feet high. Its projector requires not one, but two 15,000-watt bulbs, and requires an insane cooling system that "pumps 1,600 cubic metres of air and 36 litres of distilled water through the lamp housing every minute." The sound system is similarly massive: A 15,000-watt digital surround sound system. A note to Aziz Ansari: If you're trying to see Star Trek on a real IMAX, we might suggest a trip to Australia.

Futuroscope - Poitiers, France
Housed in the Parc du Futuroscope, an all-around awesome-sounding French theme park based on multimedia and technology, the Kinescope theater is the only one in the world to house every single type of IMAX: Normal, dome, 3D, dome 3D and flying-carpet-style. The "flying carpet" type screen features a second screen on the floor, giving the sensation of a mushroom trip weightless or floating experience.

The Golden Snail - Jakarta, Indonesia
Possibly the most gorgeous, organic IMAX theater in the world, the Golden Snail Theater (also know as the Keong Emas IMAX) in East Jakarta, Indonesia is meant to resemble the golden apple snail, a national symbol of Indonesia. It was the largest screen in the world from 1985 to 1991, and the 930-seat theater (quite possibly the largest-capacity IMAX theater in the world) is now mostly used for tourist films on the natural beauty of Indonesia. Interestingly, the Golden Snail Theater has never shown a film about the golden apple snail.

Science Museum of Minnesota - Saint Paul, USA
We could have gone with the oppressively garish "Broadway at Myrtle Beach" IMAX for the sole American entry, or even the world's largest IMAX dome (though not the largest screen) in the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. But for us, the Science Museum of Minnesota's crazy convertible dual-screen system takes the cake in the States. It was the pioneer of the convertible screen, which features both a flat screen and a dome that can be rotated to show made-for-domes IMAX movies known as Omnifilms. It also boasts the "largest permanently installed electronic cinema projector in the world," but the massive mechanical structure is what placed this theater on our list: The exterior of the theater actually had to be built around the screen's mechanism!

Prasads IMAX - Hyderabad, India
After the former World's Largest Screen (Adlabs IMAX in Mumbai) was torn down, the Prasads IMAX in Hyderabad stepped up to the plate. Prasads IMAX may not be the largest screen or even the largest dome in the world, but it is the single most popular theater in the world. Its 72-foot high, 95-foot wide screen is accompanied by 635 seats and a 12,000-watt sound system. The Prasads IMAX made its name by being the most attended screen in the world for major blockbusters like the Harry Potter and Spiderman movies.

In 1929, The Great Depression popularized popcorn as a movie time treat since it was cheap, easy, tasty and somewhat filling. Back then, a bag cost you 5 cents. Now, a (small) bag costs you $4.75. Sure, our new bag is probably a bit bigger, but it's vastly more expensive.

In fact, when adjusted for inflation, popcorn prices* have seen an ironic 666% price increase, while movie ticket prices have increased a more moderate 66%. The above picture tells the story to scale, but just in case you're a bigger fan of numbers:

1929
Movie - $4.32 ($0.35 pre-inflation)
Popcorn - $0.62 ($0.05 pre-inflation)

2009
Movie - $7.20
Popcorn - $4.75

What gives? As many of you know, Hollywood takes a majority of ticket proceeds (we're talking upwards of 70% or more) during the first few weeks a film is released. Not so coincidentally, those first few weeks are also usually a film's best-attended screenings. So theaters fall back to popcorn, soda and candy to make money because Hollywood doesn't see a cut of these sales.

But is this 666% popcorn price increase evil? Obviously, numbers don't lie. Has the increased price of popcorn helped keep ticket prices in check? Possibly, though there's no real way of knowing.

Still, one thing's for sure: Those stadium seats and surround sound systems won't pay for themselves...right?

* Explanation on Data
Movie ticket data is based upon stats by the MPAA/NATO, seen here, with a 2009 estimate based upon the 2008 price. Realize that movie ticket price is always an average of all tickets sold per year, which drops the price greatly due to child tickets, matinees and second run theaters.

Popcorn price was based upon the widespead 5-cent bag of popcorn compared to a small popcorn from the AMC in Brooklyn, OH—which we feel is, if anything, a conservative sampling of movie popcorn prices. We'd love to have an average sale price on movie popcorn across America (just as we do tickets), but that data is not tracked by either the Popcorn Board or the National Association of Concessionaires.

Additional research by Andrea Wang, Graphic by Jesus Diaz

Texas Instruments Announces IMAX Digital Projection System to be Powered by DLP Cinema® 2008 marks the 10th Anniversary of digital cinema led by DLP Cinema LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - March 11, 2008: Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) DLP Cinema® announced today at ShoWest that IMAX® Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX) has decided to incorporate the DLP Cinema projector solution in its IMAX digital projection systems to be deployed by commercial exhibitors around the world. "We are excited to cement this alliance with DLP Cinema, and believe their technology will help ensure that our digital projection system delivers the best cinema experience available to audiences," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We've evaluated competing cinema projection technology and found DLP Cinema to be the ideal match for IMAX." IMAX's highly anticipated digital projection system integrates a suite of proprietary IMAX intellectual properties with the DLP Cinema projector solution in a way that creates The IMAX Experience in a digital format. IMAX expects its transition to digital to help to drive profitability for studios, exhibitors and IMAX theatres by virtually eliminating the need for film prints, increasing program flexibility and ultimately increasing the number of movies shown on IMAX screens. With the implementation of DLP Cinema technology, IMAX moviegoers will experience precise, lifelike images in vibrant colors, delivered through the millions of microscopic mirrors on the DLP Cinema chip. "We are proud to work with IMAX and look forward to the development and rollout of the best digital cinema experience in the market," said Nancy Fares, Business Manager for DLP Cinema Products Group. "DLP Cinema projectors are the heart of every digital 2D and 3D movie experience for traditional and now large format venues. We look forward to participating in their move to digital in the months ahead." Digital cinema installations continue to be catalyzed by the increasing release of 3D film. The 3D movie format is serving as a revenue driver for the film industry overall, and has gained a resurgence of interest by moviegoers. IMAX has been a leader in 3D content, especially since the overwhelming box office success of The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience, which has grossed more than $65 million in IMAX theatres around the world since it opened in 2005. More recently, Beowulf: An IMAX 3D Experience grossed $25 million, representing a per screen average of more than $185,000. Celebrating its 10th year in the film industry, DLP Cinema projection technology is installed in over 6,000 theatres on every continent except Antarctica and is the only digital 3D single projector solution. Today there are more than 1,200 theatres in the country that offer the digital 3D experience powered by DLP Cinema technology, and this number will continue to increase as IMAX begins its rollout of digital projection systems powered by DLP Cinema. 10 Years of Digital Cinema 2008 marks the 10th Anniversary of DLP's entrance into the cinema industry, with the first fully functional and Hollywood endorsed digital DLP Cinema movie projector. After years of prototypes, DLP had delivered Hollywood's biggest image critics and cinematographers with a digital projector that met the world's highest standards on color, brightness and reliability and therefore pioneered the digital cinema concept. A year later in 1999 the studios released the first movie in digital format on DLP Cinema which was Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace. DLP Cinema honors the heritage of the ultimate viewing experience while incorporating the latest technology innovations, such as the 3D single projector solution, and cutting costs for cinema exhibitors, distributors and ultimately the consumer. About DLP Cinema DLP Cinema is a proprietary technology that delivers clear, sharp, bright and accurate images to movie theatres globally. To manufacture and market under the DLP Cinema trademark, technology licensees, including Barco, Christie and NEC, must meet stringent standards and guidelines meant to ensure the best possible performance and picture quality. This digital picture and standard of excellence ensures that a DLP Cinema movie screening looks flawless and each showing is as perfect as the first with no annoying scratches, tears or weaving that detract from the movie-going experience. For more information, or to find a DLP Cinema theatre near you, please visitwww.dlpcinema.com. About Texas Instruments DLP Products DLP display technology from Texas Instruments offers clarity down to the most minute detail, delivering pictures rich with color, contrast and brightness to large-screen HDTVs and projectors for business, home, professional venue and digital cinema (DLP Cinema®). 50 of the world's top projection and display manufacturers design, manufacture and market products based on DLP technology. DLP is the only HDTV technology built from a foundation in the digital cinema where it set the industry standard demonstrated by the deployment of DLP Cinema technology in 5,971 theatres worldwide. At the heart of every DLP chip is an array of up to 2.2 million microscopic mirrors which switch incredibly fast to create a high resolution, highly reliable, full color image. DLP technology's chip architecture and inherent speed advantage provides razor-sharp images and excellent reproduction of fast motion video. Since early 1996, more than 15.5 million DLP subsystems have been shipped. For more information, please visitwww.dlp.com. About Texas Instruments: Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, www.ti.com. DLP and DLP Cinema are registered trademarks of Texas Instruments. About IMAX Corporation IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading digital entertainment and technology companies. The worldwide IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event Hollywood films around the globe, with IMAX theatres delivering the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR technology. IMAX DMR is the Company's groundbreaking digital remastering technology that allows it to digitally transform virtually any conventional motion picture into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. IMAX's renowned projectors and new digital systems display crystal-clear images on the world's biggest screens. The IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences for consumers. As of September 30, 2007, there were 296 IMAX theatres operating in 40 countries. IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR, and, IMAX MPX The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com.

This effort makes our previous favorite Batcave look like a tragic mess, and although we are so excited, we are, at present, spontaneously generating 2.5A of electric current from our toes, we are also saddened immensely. Why so? Well, the chances of us ever having the Batcave home theater are slimmer then us falling asleep, waking up as Will Smith and then filming The Pursuit of Happyness only to have it trash talked by film critics the world over. The chances are very slim. Oh, the torment. [Elite HTS (click through to gallery), via Slippery Brick]

All you have to do is press the appropriate button—one for picture, two for sound, three for piracy, and the last for "other disturbance"— and an usher will come in and throw down some minimum-wage justice. Best of all, the users say they won't identify the person who pressed the alert, so you're going to have a lot of people jamming on the button when their neighbor coughs too loud. – Jason Chen

High Tech Tattle-Tale Device Hits NYC Theaters [WCBSTV With Video]

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–Travis Hudson

Sssh!! Russia's oldest theater hushes mobile phones [Reuters]

"We want to transition our theaters from being traditional movie theaters to being community entertainment destinations, and what better way to do this than sports?" said Shari Redstone, president of the National Amusements Inc. theater chain.

Yeah, right. Community entertainment destinations are, at best, now called restaurants and at worst called "your couch and big honking TV"

Movie theaters aim for live 3D sports in 2007 [Reuters]