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Forget 3D, Avatar Goes 4D

You are reading right, Avatar 4D is the new thing going on with this blockbuster beast. Korea has tackled the fourth dimension by engaging all five senses. Inside one of those auditoriums you will find: moving seats, water sprinkling around, wind breeze, certain smells and additional visual aids like lights and lasers. Granted, this is more a “theme park” fourth dimension but the effort is there. Now, will these “4D” hit the states?

SEOUL – If the 3D “Avatar” is not enough, how about 4D?

The 4D screening uses more than 30 effects during the 3D film’s 162 minute run, including moving seats, smells of explosives, sprinkling water, laser lights and wind. Despite the much higher $15.80 ticket price (an average ticket costs $6.90), screenings are regularly sold out.

“We (started to) prepared the ‘Avatar’ 4D ride last summer,” says Tom Oh, prexy of 20th Century Fox Korea.

But 4D isn’t new to Koreans. The nation’s leading multiplex chain, CJ-CGV, began 4D shows last year in one 88-seat theater, with”Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

But with the success of “Avatar,” CJ-CGV opened three more “4D plexes.”

Ten films have been shown with 4D effects designed by CJ-CGV’s 4D programmer over the last year.

“There is no 4D theater like ours around the world. CGV’s 4D plex is the first in the world that fully offers five-sense experiences with a movie title,” says Kim Daehee, publicity manager of CJ-CGV.

Exhib has more 4D titles on tap, including the upcoming “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

Hoping to cash in, animation and VFX shingle Wonderworld Studio has announced that it has launched a unit specializing in the 4D experience. A Korea-U.S. joint venture with the L.A.-based Animation Picture Co., company plans to complete 10 4D ride films this year.