SM Cinema is spending at least P360 million to open three more IMAX theaters after the success of the country’s first IMAX cinema it opened at the SM Mall of Asia in 2006.

The firm will open today the P120 million IMAX Theater at SM City North EDSA – the second IMAX Theater in the Philippines – located at the Second Level of the mall’s City Center.

Edgar Tejerero, senior vice president of SM’s cinema unit West Avenue Theatres Corporation, said they are also opening an IMAX theather in Cebu within the year and another one in SM Taguig in Bonifacio Global City by the first quarter of 2011.

He added that West Avenue is always looking at possibility of putting up fifth IMAX theater at SM Megamall in Madaluyong City.

Tejerero said the North EDSA IMAX is smaller than the one in MoA given the limitations since it was converted from an old cinema. The North EDSA theater will have a screen size of 15 meters and a capacity of 470 seats.

The IMAX in MoA has a 24 meter screen and a capacity of 570 seats. The IMAX theaters in SM Cebu and Taguig will have about 500 seats with bigger screens than North EDSA. Regular cinema screens are about 8 to 10 meters.

The new SM North EDSA theater will be equipped with the world’s most advanced digital theater system, which will surely deliver the IMAX Ultimate Movie Experience to moviegoers – crystal clear images, laser aligned digital sound, and customized theater geometry which maximizes your field of view. Collectively, these create an experience that consistently puts the audience “IN” the movie.

To achieve this, the new IMAX Theater will have a comprehensive suite of proprietary IMAX technologies– the IMAX Image Enhancer, Customized Theater Geometry, the IMAX Audio System, the IMAX Screen, Dual Digital Projectors, and IMAX DMR.

The opening of the second IMAX Theater at SM City North EDSA is a major component of the mall’s ongoing redevelopment to better serve its shoppers in the North Metro area.

Other components include the upscale The Block, which opened in 2006; the renovated Annex which has the largest Cyberzone in the SM malls; and the Skygarden, which brings a whole new malling experience to the Philippines.