Ster-Kinekor upgrades finished, faster releases promised

Ster-Kinekor Theatres announced in a press statement on Wednesday, 20 November 2013 that it has finished the digital conversion of all of its sites (more than 400 cinema screens) around South Africa.

According to Ster-Kinekor, the project was completed in record time.

“The digital roll-out across our sites is the single largest investment by our company,” said Fiaz Mahomed, CEO of Ster-Kinekor Theatres.

Mahomed said the process started in June this year, and was finished with conversion of Ster-Kinekor’s final South African cinema in Kimberley this week.

“As far as we are aware, this is the fastest successful digital conversion process for any cinema chain of our size anywhere in the world,” Mahomed said.

“Furthermore, we managed to continue running our normal day-to-day operations across all our cinemas during the upgrade, with the minimum of disruption.”

Ster-Kinekor old vs new projectors

Ster-Kinekor said that the first movie to see an all-digital release from it in South Africa was Thor: The Dark World. It opened earlier in November 2013.

“Upgrading the cinemas brings with it yet another plus for movie-lovers,” Mahomed said. “The screening of more major blockbuster titles from both the Hollywood and Bollywood studios, on the same date as their international release and at more cinema complexes.”

Mahomed said that the ease of digital projection also gives them the opportunity to expand this to more niche film titles.

“This technology has profoundly changed the face of the industry,” Mahomed said.

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