IWERKS TURBORIDEtm TO OPEN IN NEW YORK'S CYBERDOME; STUDIO 54 SITE TO BE REBORN AS $10 MILLION
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX
Business/Entertainment Editors
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 1996--Studio 54, New
York's legendary night club, is being reborn as a family
entertainment complex, complete with high tech, multi-sensory
attractions built around two Iwerks Entertainment TurboRide(tm)
theatres.
Iwerks Entertainment's (Nasdaq NM:IWRK) co-chairman and ceo Roy
A. Wright today announced a joint venture with New York's CyberDOME,
Inc., led by entrepreneur Herb Marion, to operate two ride simulation
theatres at 254 W. 54th Street. Called Iwerks TurboRide(tm), the
theatres will serve as an entertainment magnet for the new venue;
bringing to life the old night club site, which has stood dark for
nearly a decade.
The TurboRide(tm) theatres will be part of a $10 million
futuristic complex, owned and operated by CyberDOME, Inc., that will
include food and beverage, high tech galaxion attractions, virtual
reality games, bungie rides, laser tag games, and a climbing wall;
all set in over an acre of floor space.
"We're pleased to be part of the CyberDOME entertainment
complex," said Wright. "It's a wonderful opportunity to work with a
successful development team to create a family entertainment venue
that also contributes to the revitalization of Manhattan's West
Side."
"Our goal is to provide an incomparable experience, right in the
heart of Manhattan," said Marion, Chairman of CyberDOME, Inc. "When
CyberDOME opens in January, this site will have come full circle;
fulfilling a need for family entertainment, and emerging as an
attraction all New Yorkers can be proud of."
This news comes on the same day that Wright announced record
yearly profits for Iwerks for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1996.
This joint venture is significant for Iwerks Entertainment, one of
the world's leading motion simulation and location-based-
entertainment companies, because it indicates continued success of a
recently implemented strategy to participate in the operations of its
attractions through joint ventures.
This is the third such partnership agreement for Iwerks in six
months. The first joint venture was signed with Australia's Hoyts
Cinemas. The first of several Iwerks TurboRides(tm) has already
opened successfully in Melbourne. Iwerks' second joint venture, with
Dallas-based Dave & Buster's, will result in five TurboRide(tm)
installations in D&B restaurant/entertainment complexes nationwide.
The first is scheduled to open this September in Philadelphia.
What is common to all three partnerships "is that we are helping
to bring theme park-like family entertainment to the city landscape,"
said Wright. "Location-based-entertainment products, such as those
Iwerks creates, not only satisfy the public's growing demand for high
tech attractions but are clean fun for all ages."
At CyberDOME, visitors will be able to ride two Iwerks
TurboRide(tm) attractions, valued at over $2-million, that will show
such Iwerks multi-sensory film features as Aliens: Ride at the Speed
of Fright; RoboCop: The Ride; Days of Thunder: The Ride; and Dino
Island, a Jurassic-era romp with dinosaurs. With 36 ride films
currently in the Iwerks library, and more in production, the Iwerks
CyberDOME theatres can promise visitors a new ride experience with
each title change.
Burbank, California-based Iwerks Entertainment is one of the
world's leading producers of high-tech, multi-sensory experiences
such as ride simulation, 2D and 3D giant screen theatres; 360-degree
video dance clubs; interactive, virtual reality theatres; and other
immersive attractions. Serving prestigious entertainment,
information and marketing providers, Iwerks attractions can be found
worldwide at: Location-based entertainment centers, amusement parks,
family entertainment centers, shopping centers, casinos, resorts,
nightclubs, restaurants, museums, fairs, festivals;...and just about
any place where the public's demand for excitement and total body
entertainment is satisfied by an Iwerks experience. |
