Santa Rosa movie theater debuts new three-screen technology

A new movie theater technology that displays films on three screens debuted Thursday in Santa Rosa, giving audiences a chance to be more surrounded by the action.

The Airport Stadium 12 cinema on Aviation Boulevard is one of 20 theaters around the world outfitted with Barco Escape, a system with three projectors putting images on three adjacent screens. On Thursday night the system was used for the premiere of the second installment in the “Maze Runner” series: “The Scorch Trials.”

In a 200-seat theater, the new projection system included a central screen and two raised side screens that extended out to the second row of the main seating level.

The technology provides “a new canvas” for filmmakers and an experience far different than can be had watching a tablet, laptop or home TV system, Barco Escape CEO Todd Hoddick said Thursday in a phone interview.

“It’s an immersive experience that you can’t get anywhere else,” he said.

About 20 minutes of the new “Maze Runner” installment uses the three screens, said Hoddick, whose office is based in Rancho Cordova. The parent company, visualization product maker Barco, is based in Belgium.

Asked to describe the experience, Hoddick said, “Now you’re in the story. Now the movie’s all around you.”

The first public showing using Barco Escape occurred last year with the first “Maze Runner” release. The system is now in 20 theaters in the United States, Mexico, Europe and China, Hoddick said, but the company would like to expand to more than 100 locations next year.

Santa Rosa Entertainment Group, which in Sonoma County owns the Airport Stadium 12, Roxy Stadium 14, Third Street Cinema 6 and Summerfield Cinemas, said it wanted to be one of the first movie theaters to use the new screen system.

“We’re always trying to bring something new to the area,” said Vice President Neil Pearlmutter. “It’s a pretty fun technology.”

In Oxnard, the Santa Rosa-based theater company has installed a new “4D” system in which the seats move and can emit wind, smoke, scent or spray. Also, one of its theaters in Camarillo has been outfitted with large lounge seats that recline and include tray tables.

The company has placed another Barco Escape system at its cinemas in Clovis, Pearlmutter said.

The Santa Rosa theater on Thursday presented a special double feature of both “Maze Runner” films. The cost, $13, was $3 more than the normal admission price.

Pearlmutter acknowledged that a natural question remains: How many filmmakers will use the three-screen system?

Among those companies planning to release films with the technology is 20th Century Fox, which Hoddick said has agreed to a five-year deal involving multiple titles.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@rdigit.