""Fantasia/2000'' Smashes House Records At IMAX Theatres Worldwide In Its Opening Weekend
Film's Two-Day Domestic Tally Is An Unprecedented $2.2 Million
Following its phenomenally successful sold-out ""World Premiere Tour,"" Walt Disney Pictures' animated extravaganza ""Fantasia/2000"" made boxoffice history over the New Year's holiday weekend (January 1-2, 2000) with its two-day record-breaking opening at 75 IMAX theatres around the world, it was announced today by Richard Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. The film, which officially opened on New Year's Day, set new records at every domestic IMAX venue and tallied an unprecedented two-day gross of $2,239,941 - a spectacular $41,481 average per screen - at 54 U.S. and Canadian theatres. That figure represents the best gross ever for an IMAX engagement and surpasses the highest weekly total for any previous IMAX offering. Commenting on the announcement, Cook said: ""We are enormously proud of `Fantasia/2000' and gratified by the overwhelming response it is getting at IMAX theatres all over the world. ""The film received spectacular receptions during its live concert performances in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles, and now moviegoers have an opportunity to experience this incredible film in an exciting new way on the giant IMAX screens. ""Roy Disney has led a brilliant group of filmmakers in creating ëFantasia/2000,' and it represents an important new milestone in our studio's continuing legacy as an animation pioneer."" ""Fantasia/2000"" is set to run exclusively at IMAX theaters through April 30, 2000. Among the locations currently playing the film is an elaborate 622-seat IMAX theatre in Los Angeles, which Disney has constructed specifically for this engagement. In its opening weekend, all performances were sold out at that venue. ""Fantasia/2000"" recently completed its 10-day ""World Premiere Tour"" with live concert performances accompanying the film's bold visual imagery at Carnegie Hall (New York), Royal Albert Hall (London), the Theatre des Champs Elysees (Paris) and Orchard Hall (Tokyo). The tour concluded with a gala Millennium Ball at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on New Year's Eve in Pasadena, California, where 2,000 guests rang in the new century.