"Elysium," From Sony Pictures Entertainment In Association With Media Rights Capital, To Feature Auro 11.1 By Barco And Dolby Atmos Mixes

CULVER CITY, Calif., April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today that it is teaming with both Barco and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to mix Elysium, the highly anticipated second feature film from writer-director Neill Blomkamp, in both the Auro 11.1 system and the Dolby® Atmos™ system, which deliver a more natural and realistic soundtrack that moves sound around and above audiences.  Elysium, from TriStar Pictures in association with Media Rights Capital, will be the first Sony Pictures Entertainment title to be mixed in these state-of-the-art formats. Elysium is set for release in theaters nationwide on August 9, 2013.

Commenting on the announcement, Rory Bruer, president of Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures, said, "We're thrilled to be working with both Barco and Dolby to explore and support their technologies as we incorporate them into Elysium.  These new, immersive, breakthrough audio technologies, combined with other state-of-the-art enhancements, are rapidly perfecting the theatrical experience for moviegoers."

Craig Berkey and Chris Scarabosio will be creating both the Auro 11.1 and Dolby Atmos mixes.  Commenting on the announcement, they said, "Barco and Dolby are breaking new ground in creating an aural experience for moviegoers.  Each of these technologies enables us to further sonically immerse the audience as we are able to more accurately pan elements to enhance the detail of our mixes."

Auro 11.1 by Barco is designed along three layers of sound (Traditional Surround sound, with Height, and Overhead layers). Thanks to this layered approach, the technology not only enables sound mixers to move objects around in space, it also allows them to reproduce the immersive aspects of a film soundtrack in a more natural way.

Dolby Atmos is a new audio platform that enhances the experience of sound in entertainment. It allows sound designers and mixers a new level of creative control and ensures that cinema audiences will experience the full impact of their mix regardless of theatre configuration.

"Dolby Atmos gives sound designers and mixers unprecedented flexibility to apply their creativity to telling stories through sound," said Doug Darrow, Senior Vice President, Cinema, Dolby Laboratories. "With Dolby Atmos sound experts can now easily place and move specific sounds anywhere in the movie theatre. Audiences are going to love Elysium and Dolby Atmos is going to make them feel like they are right in the center of all the action."

"All of us at Barco are extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Sony Pictures on the creation of an Auro 11.1 immersive sound mix for Elysium," comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director of Strategic Business Development for Barco. "Since performing the industry's first immersive mix for a feature film in January 2012 with Lucasfilm's Red Tails, Auro 11.1 has been used in nine films to date. With the honor of adding Elysium to our title slate, this brings the total to 15 films in our pipeline confirmed to be mixed in Auro 11.1."

About Elysium

In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet.  The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land.  The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium.  With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium's Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.  Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp.  The QED International / Alphacore Studios / Kinberg Genre production is produced by Bill Block, Neill Blomkamp, and Simon Kinberg.

About Sony Pictures:

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

About Barco

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3,900 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.156 billion euro in 2012.

About Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) unleashes the potential of sound in storytelling by giving sound experts the creative freedom to easily place or move specific sounds anywhere in the movie theatre, not just wherever there happen to be speakers.

Introduced in April 2012, Dolby Atmos' innovative approach to cinema sound has been embraced by major studios, award-winning directors and sound teams, and leading exhibitors worldwide. Nearly 40 titles around the world have been released or are scheduled to be released with Dolby Atmos sound since Disney/Pixar's Brave was released in June 2012. In 2013, the Cinema Audio Society gave Dolby Atmos its coveted Technical Achievement Award for Post Production and Dolby Atmos was recognized by Popular Science as "The Best of What's New in 2012" for the entertainment category. 

For the latest list of Dolby Atmos titles visit, dolby.com/atmosmovies. To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit dolby.com/Atmos.

SOURCE Sony Pictures Entertainment