Prepare for the (really) big screen

I'm not quite sure what "due diligence" means here. It's a wonderfully veiled bit of corporate speak. According to a representative from the Regal Entertainment Group, that's what is currently going on as it applies to bringing an IMAX facility to Augusta. I've taken a close look at the tea leaves and my guess is "due diligence" means that yes, an IMAX screen will soon be part of the Regal Exchange 20 -- often referred to as the Mothership in my house -- and that the folks at Regal just aren't ready to announce quite yet. What tea leaves, do you ask? Well, both the Regal and IMAX web sites list an IMAX as coming soon. Actually, only Regal lists it as coming soon. IMAX actually says it is due in Fall 2008. More ambiguity from Regal, but I guess that's all a part of due diligence. Fair enough. It it their house.

According to Regal, the plan undergoing "due diligence" would see an existing theater at the 20 retrofitted to house an IMAX Digital system. Having hit a couple of IMAX rooms in my time, I'm curious to see how that would work. The IMAX theaters usually conform to a very specific geometry which includes, most notably, a really big screen. I'm not quite sure how that sort of size might be shoehorned into one of the the Regal auditoriums.

The good folk at Regal seem to believe this period of "due diligence" should wrap up some time in the next 30 days. Hopefully, before summer is out we'll have some concrete IMAX news to report.

Stay tuned.