As we said in a past news, the digital cinema will continue to expand. And we were right. Galaxy Theatres, an independent exhibitor, has signed a contract with Christie/AIX, a wholly owned subsidiary of AccessIT, for the installation of state-of-the-art digital cinema systems on 67 of their screens.

Galaxy’s theatres operations are located in 4 states, including California, Washington, Texas and Nevada. Galaxy is the fourth chain, including the 2,300-screen Carmike national circuit, to contract with AccessIT for its conversion to digital cinema.

Chuck Goldwater, President and COO of Christie/AIX, commented: “Signing Galaxy, a fast-growing and innovative West Coast exhibitor, underscores our strategy of serving both large national and independent regional chains in the conversion to digital technology. As Galaxy continues to expand, digital cinema, with its superior image quality and ability to provide important revenue-generating alternative content, including 3-D, will give exhibitors new opportunities to create a competitive edge.”

“Galaxy was quick to realize the tremendous benefit digital cinema could offer our customers in terms of visual excitement and programming flexibility and, as such, has been a long-time digital advocate,” said Rafe Cohen, President of Galaxy Theatres, Inc. “After carefully evaluating various options, it was clear that Christie/AIX’s plan offered us the most commercially-proven and fully integrated solution — from projectors and media players to content distribution and management technologies. Importantly, all of this impressive technology is supported by years of real-world experience operating 2K digital systems deployed at theatres across the country.”

“The value of digital cinema goes well beyond its breath-taking visuals, playing an important role in enhancing an exhibitor’s brand and business model, something clearly recognized by Galaxy. We look forward to working with Galaxy as they expand their business with market-proven DLP Cinema(R) technology from Christie,” stated Craig Sholder, Vice President, Entertainment Solutions, Christie USA.

The first states that will receive the systems are California and Nevada (the deployment of such a system will be the first of this kind in the state) and will be operational by May 2006. Until mid 2007, Galaxy multiplexes will be totally digital converted.