Regal’s Union Square cinema upgraded to 4DX in 2016, meaning you can now feel The Rock’s spittle land on your brow, or join Robert Duvall in taking a whiff of napalm in the morning. So how does the theater plan to one-up itself? With ScreenX.
No, ScreenX is not something Elon Musk is developing in between submarine rescues. Rather, it’s a setup, created in South Korea, that adds screens to the left and right side of the theater so you can watch certain scenes in 270-degree panoramic mode. I experienced this when I watched Train to Busan in Bangkok, where luxury theaters have long outclassed their American counterparts. Truth is, it was distractingly gimmicky more than anything, and the proximity of the screens to my left and right made it hard to fully take in what was happening on them. But then again I wasn’t experiencing 4DX and ScreenX at the same time, which can apparently be done.
You can see ScreenX in action here:
So when is ScreenX landing in NYC? Regal tells us that it launches this week with Conjuring spin-off The Nun. Other upcoming titles in ScreenX include DC Comics movies Aquaman (out Dec. 21) and Shazam! (out April 5).
Update, Sept. 6: This post was revised to include ScreenX’s launch date.