With the outsized success of movies such as OPPENHEIMER and DUNE: PART TWO and the growth of IMAX’s large-format projection technology and exhibition network, it has become clear that moviegoers are increasingly interested in having a cinematic experience in theatres that cannot be replicated at home.
Exhibitors are looking to capitalize on the demand by offering next-gen technologies across the board, including 4DX auditoriums. 4DX is a technology from South Korean vendor CJ 4DPlex that offers a “multi-sensory experience” that is above and beyond sound and visuals. Moviegoers sit in specially prepared seats that rock back and forth while powerful fans blow wind and sprayers shoot out water and smoke. Each effect is synchronized with the action taking place on the screen.
CNBC’s Sarah Whitten published an article that profiles the technology, illustrated in the course of a screening of FURIOSA in a 4DX auditorium. At one point in the film, a red flare explodes and casts a red cloud across the screen. Whitten describes how “Feet away, among the rows of gyroscopic 4DX chairs, plumes of fog roll in, catching the red hue from the screen as if the flare somehow transcended the fourth wall and infiltrated the cinema. As the fog parts, the character Dementus played by Chris Hemsworth comes into focus on the screen and grins at the audience.”
Tickets for 4DX screenings are $8 more expensive on average than a typical ticket, but that premium does not seem to be holding back audiences. For example, 3.6% of the grosses from AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER came from 4DX screenings, significantly higher than the portion brought in for other 4DX titles.
Currently, there are 750 theatres worldwide with 4DX auditoriums, and the vendor is on track to add 50-60 new locations each year, with a particular focus on growth in the U.S. market where there are only 62 4DX auditoriums currently. With its ability to offer unique experiences such as piping in the smell of chocolate during WONKA screenings, the industry is hoping 4DX can attract sensory and thrill-seeking audiences to the cinema.