At Marcus Gurnee Mills Cinema on Friday night patrons got to experience the first 4DX movie system in the Midwest, featuring special chairs and other effects to help them feel more like they’re a part of what’s showing on the big screen.
So would local movie lovers pay an extra $6 at the theater to not only see and hear the movie, but smell it and feel it as well?
The answer may be found at Marcus Gurnee Mills Cinema where Friday night patrons got to experience the first 4DX movie system in the Midwest, featuring special chairs and other effects to help them feel more like they’re a part of what’s showing on the big screen.
Called an “immersive cinema experience” that touches all five senses, according to a press release, theater goers had that opportunity through a soft opening for the new theater system starting Friday night with “The Hunger Games Mockingjay–Part 2.”
“When the plane flies your seat moves in the direction of the plane,” said Michael Haake, 23, of Waukegan, an assistant manager at the theaters who got a preview taste of the experience Thursday night. “It’s very subtle, but it definitely moves around.
“When an explosion goes off the seat moved, and there was wind everywhere,” he said, “And the gun smoke (smell of gunpowder), that was a big one. A strobe light simulated the flash, and there was a fog effect in front of the screen.”
While a regular ticket is $10.75 at night (matinees are $8.50) you can upgrade to the five senses experience for an additional $6.He said plenty of people are trying out the new experience, “but some people still prefer the standard classic theater.”
According to a release by the 4D cinema company, CJ 4DPLEX, there are 20 different effects incorporated into the auditorium and seating that are synchronized.
“Marcus Theatres has been a wonderful partner and, with this opening, its Gurnee Mills Cinema will be among the most innovative theatres in the Midwest,” said Mark W. Shaw, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX America in a statement issued Friday.
He said more than 280 Hollywood titles have been screened in 4DX since 2009.
At one point in the movie Haake said the characters sit in the grass. “And I could smell the grass. It’s crazy,” he said.
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