270-degree 'movie experience' coming to Edinburgh

We've had our eyes strained by 3D and our bones rattled by 4DX, and now it seems Cineworld is after the health of our cervical vertebrae with their latest gimmick: a neck-straining "270-degree movie experience" called ScreenX. As reported by Edinburgh Live, the technology expands the traditional cinema screen in front of the audience so that there's movie happening at either side of the auditorium as well, meaning the action spills across three screens instead of one – the Big Screen is no longer big enough, it seems.

Well, not quite. ScreenX only uses one screen, so the action that plays out in front of the audience is what you would see in a standard 2D screening. The action happening in the wings is projected directly onto the cinema's walls. The idea is that with things occurring in your peripheral vision, the film should feel more immersive, although we're not exactly sure how that will be the case when the cinema's emergency exits are now part of the movie you're watching.

ScreenX is being heralded as the "world's first multi-projection cinema technology" and described by JongRyui Kim, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX, the company behind the technology, as a "brand new type of movie-going." Is it though? This idea of a more immersive cinema doesn't sound all that different from Cinerama, the cinema exhibition gimmick from the 1950s that projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, curved screen. Suffice it to say, Cinerama didn't really catch on. Cineworld will be hoping ScreenX proves more successful.

“We are excited to be the first cinema in Scotland to launch ScreenX," said Lindsay Cook, Cineworld Edinburgh general manager, although part of her excitement may be the extra price they're going to charge for this "immersive" experience."We are driven by innovation and following the success of 4DX, ScreenX will offer more ways for our customers to experience film.

Among the first films to be available in the Edinburgh cinema in this format are haunted doll horror sequel Annabelle Comes Home and the first post-Endgame movie from Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home. So if you're curious as to what is going on to the left and right of Spider-Man as he battles bad guys, now you'll know with ScreenX.