A new big-screen movie theater is coming to Myrtle Beach. It'll be in the same building as the former IMAX theater, but the Carmike chain claims its big screen will go beyond anything IMAX had offered.
The new theater will be called the Big D, with an 82-foot wide screen, 3-and-a-half stories tall.
The picture clarity will be "high definition on steroids," in the words of a theater spokesman, with the ability to display a range of 34 trillion colors.
"So it's one of the brightest, most vivid pictures that you'll ever see. It has a sound system that will just rock your socks off," said Carmike spokesman Terrell Mayton.
The IMAX format was film-based, the original way of showing movies, Mayton said. But Big D will be all digital and able to adapt to whatever comes next.
"What was here before was new many, many years ago, and this is built so it can always be the next level in movie experience."
IMAX specialized in documentary nature films, often featuring outer space or undersea exploration. Mayton said there will be no "shark week" at the Big D. It will feature only first-run movies.
"This movie theater is designed to bring you the latest attractions from Hollywood, in a way that you can't experience them anywhere in the Carolinas and only a few places in the country," he said.
With 3-D capability, Mayton said the screen will often feature the latest blockbuster, with a new film each week.
It will be the 17th screen at Broadway at the Beach, a short walk from the present 16-film complex.
The doormen at the Bid D will be dressed in tuxes and the seats will be high-back leather and reclinable. Movie-goers will pay an extra two dollars per ticket for all that, but Mayton claims it'll be worth it.
"What we try to do with Big D is put you at the center of the movie."
There are currently 14 Bid D screens in the country. The Myrtle Beach theater will be the first in the Carolinas. It will debut next Thursday night, August 3, with a midnight showing of "Total Recall".
