Disney’s New ‘Infinity Vision’ Cinema Standard Just Cleared Its First Big Test – Here’s a First Look

Marvel Studios

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Marvel Studios has spent the better part of this year building anticipation for its biggest theatrical event since the original ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ and the studio isn’t just relying on trailers and marketing to sell that experience. Disney has also been quietly reshaping how audiences pick a theater in the first place, rolling out an entirely new certification system months ahead of the film’s release.

That system is called Infinity Vision, and it’s designed to answer a very specific problem facing Disney’s next big Marvel release. The certification landed at CinemaCon just as reports surfaced that IMAX had prioritized a rival film for the same December release date currently held by ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ leaving Disney’s tentpole without guaranteed access to IMAX’s premium screens.

Now that certification process is officially moving from paperwork to real auditoriums. Per the post, Disney has delivered an Infinity Vision test package to theaters that checks a specific set of technical rules, with measurements sent back to Disney for official certification, and Rakki Cinemas’ EPIQ auditorium has already become one of the first screens to pass.

The post frames the milestone as a lead-up to two key dates: a September re-release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and the December arrival of ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’

Disney officially unveiled Infinity Vision on stage at CinemaCon, describing it as a new certification for premium large format theaters developed alongside global theatrical exhibition partners. To actually earn that certification, a screen must measure at least 45 feet wide, run an immersive audio setup such as Dolby Atmos or 7.1, and hit brightness levels of at least 14 footlamberts in 2D or 6 footlamberts in 3D.

Andrew Cripps, Disney’s Head of Theatrical Distribution, framed the initiative as an extension of the studio’s production standards into the theaters themselves when the certification launched. Cripps said the goal was to help audiences quickly find “the very best screens in their area to experience our films in exactly the way they’re designed to be seen” during Disney’s official CinemaCon announcement.

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The rollout carries real stakes for Marvel’s release calendar. Disney is re-releasing ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in September under the new title ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore,’ complete with bonus footage, marking the first film to actually carry the Infinity Vision certification in theaters. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ then follows in December as the certification’s headline test.

Rakki Cinemas’ Chennai location becoming one of the earliest confirmed passes fits into a broader push already underway across India’s premium screen market. The chain’s OMR location opened Chennai’s first EPIQ auditorium, a premium large format screen built by Qube Cinema, and other Rakki venues are reportedly lined up to pursue certification next.

For theater chains, the incentive to pursue certification goes beyond bragging rights. Premium large-format auditoriums allow theaters to charge higher ticket prices while offering something difficult to replicate at home, and those screens can account for a sizable share of a blockbuster’s opening-weekend revenue. Getting ahead of the Infinity Vision rollout means those theaters can market themselves directly alongside Marvel’s campaign instead of competing for attention against it.

None of this changes the fact that ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is still without IMAX access for its December 18 release, a date it currently shares with a major rival blockbuster. Disney is instead applying its own certification across hundreds of premium non-IMAX screens worldwide, betting that Infinity Vision branding can capture a meaningful share of that premium-ticket audience regardless of the IMAX logo.

Whether moviegoers embrace the new label the way they have IMAX and Dolby Cinema will become clearer once ‘Endgame Encore’ hits certified screens in September, well ahead of the real test in December.

Would you choose an Infinity Vision theater over IMAX for Avengers: Doomsday?

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