27 days ago, we finally hit 300 signatures. 5 days ago on July 22nd, we hit 400. Now, we’re on the brink of 500. This is the fastest our petition has grown since it began on February 3, 2020. I believe the buzz of Oppenheimer and the lack of a proper full screen 1.43 experience in Orlando has drawn more awareness to the issue.

The screen at Pointe Orlando is still damaged, as seen in the attached photo. The faux leather on the seats is pealing off too. We’ve been told that a new screen is on order and also that they plan on replacing the projector “soon.” “Soon” is too late, these issues should’ve been fixed months ago. A Nolan IMAX movie is a special event that comes once every several years, and our IMAX hasn’t been up to snuff since The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. 

I personally traveled 280 miles to Ft. Lauderdale to experience Oppenheimer in IMAX 70mm at the AutoNation IMAX Theater at the Museum of Discovery and Science. I made a trip out of it and got a hotel by the beach. Right as I’m leaving the hotel to queue up at the AutoNation before my showtime, it begins to storm, it’s Florida in the Summer, it happens. I had a buddy in the previous showtime giving me live updates from inside the theater. The storm caused the power to surge, which stopped the film projector. They got the film projector started again, but it shut down soon after due to overheating. The power surge knocked out the water cooling system for both the film and laser system. The scholars at the AutoNation fixed both systems in 40 minutes in the middle of the showtime while giving detailed updates. The movie continued on film. My showtime was only delayed by 30 minutes and it ran flawlessly uninterrupted in glorious IMAX 70mm without ever having to switch to their digital laser backup. The presentation was everything I wanted it to be. 

As much as I’m willing to make the trek for 1.43 IMAX, not all of you are able to do the same. I would much prefer if I had a 1.43 capable IMAX right in my hometown. We need either an IMAX 70mm or a Grand Theater Laser system to achieve 1.43. While it would be nice to be like AutoNation and have both IMAX 70mm and GT Laser, it’s an awful lot to ask. So, I’ve decided to narrow our request to GT Laser. GT Laser is capable of projecting all 1.43 IMAX releases, even if they are not given IMAX 70mm prints, such as ᑐ ᑌ ᑎ ᕮ part II coming up. Meanwhile, the only movies to receive an IMAX 70mm release these days are Nolan movies, and those come once every 2-3 years. 

I’ve decided when we hit 500 signatures, I will write another letter and send it to Regal along with the master list of signatures. The letter will say that these are 500 people who love this once beautiful theater, and that we deserve answers, or at least Acknowledgement. I will ask David Keighley, Chief Quality Officer at IMAX corp, to help get the letter and petition seen by senior management at both IMAX corp and Regal Cinemas. So, kindly help spread the word and help push us over the edge of 500. 500 signatures is crazy to think about, I thought it would be a struggle to get 50 people to sign this thing three years ago, and now we’re almost at 5 times that number. At 500, we have enough supporters to fill every seat in the auditorium at our IMAX, even the wheelchair spaces, and some of you would have to sit on the steps. 500 is within our grasp, so let’s get to it!