4DX is a

4D film 4D film is a presentation system combining motion pictures with synchronized physical effects that occur in the theater. Effects simulated in 4D films include motion, vibration, Sense of smell, scent, rain, mist, bubbles, fog, smoke, wind, temperat ...

presentation system developed by CJ 4DPlex, a subsidiary of South Korean cinema chain

CJ CGV CJ CGV (; trade name, d/b/a CGV Cinemas) is the largest multiplex (movie theater), multiplex cinema chain in South Korea and also has branches in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. The fifth largest Multiplex (movie ...

. It allows films to be augmented with various

practical effect In filmmaking a practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques. In some contexts, "special effect" is used as a synonym of "practical effect", in contrast to "vi ...

s, including motion-seats, wind, strobelights, simulated snow, and scents. First debuted in 2009, it presents films in both stereoscopic 3D and monoscopic 2D formats. CJ has licensed the technology worldwide. , CJ 4DPlex operates 678 4DX theaters in 65 countries through partnerships with more than 80 theaters, including Wanda Cinemas,

Cinépolis Cinépolis is a Mexico-based international movie theater chain. Its name means ''City of Cinema'' and its slogan is ''La Capital del Cine'' (). Cinépolis was the biggest cineplex chain in Mexico, with 427 theaters in 97 cities. It is also th ...

Cineworld Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czec ...

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...

Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Entertainment and Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 loc ...

, Kinepolis,

Event Cinemas Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC Cinemas), is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 cinema complexes currently operati ...

Village Cinemas Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites bec ...

, and Nu Metro. The company recorded an annual growth rate of more than 50 percent from 2013 to 2018.

Effects

The effects are: * Seats: rotations over three axes, sway (left–right movement), leg tickler, vibration * Near-seat effects: airflow and water spray directed at the moviegoer's face, water, rain, scent effect, hot air * Room effects: bubbles, fog, wind, strobes (light flashes), snow, rainstorm

History

4DX technology was commercially debuted at the CGV Sangam theater in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in 2009. Following the success of ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

'', the technology expanded to more theaters in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. In June 2011,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

-based

invested $25 million and contracted with the CJ Group to bring the 4DX technology to its 11 locations in the country, with the first opening in a theater in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. It was the technology's debut in the Americas and outside the Asia region, and it expanded throughout Mexico. In 2019, the company announced the 4DX Screen theater, with an expanded multi-sided screen in 2020. In Central America, 4DX is in countries like Guatemala through Cinepolis. In

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, it debuted at

in 2014. In 2012,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

received

's first theater in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The 4DX theater in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

opened at the El Limonar Shopping Center in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

in July 2013. Cine Hoyts (now part of Cinépolis) opened the first 4DX theater in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 2013. At

CinemaCon Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the operators of worldwide major theater chains are members, as are ...

in March 2014, CJ 4DPlex announced that it had contracted with

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

and

to debut the US's first 4DX auditorium at Regal Cinemas

L.A. Live L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in the South Park District of downtown Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. L.A. Live was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG ...

in downtown

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 2018, CJ and Regal's new parent company

announced planned expansion of 4DX to at least 79 Regal locations. As of 2020, approximately 32 locations are in the United States, primarily from various Regal locations, one

Marcus Theatres The Marcus Corporation is an American publicly held company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company operates two principal divisions: Marcus Theatres and Marcus Hotels and Resorts. History Marcus Corporation was founded on Novembe ...

location in

Gurnee Gurnee ( ) is a Village (United States), village and suburb in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, Illinois, Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within ...

, two

locations, and CGV's second U.S. site at The Source OC in Buena Park. In November 2023, B&B Theatres and CJ 4DPlex signed a deal to add their first 4DX location, in Texas. In March 2025,

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

and CJ 4DPlex signed a deal to expand 4DX to 40 AMC locations across the United States and Europe. In Canada,

debuted a 4DX auditorium at one of its Toronto locations on 4 November 2016. It opened a second location in Calgary in August 2019.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

has few 4DX screens. It was launched in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

at the Lulu International Shopping Mall in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

on 20 December 2021 with '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. Talking to press after signing the agreement, Ajay Bijli, CMD at PVR said, "In a small time since the launch in Noida, 4DX format has outperformed by far all other formats." In South Korea, since opening its first theater in partnership with Korona World Cinemas in April 2013, 4DX has increased. It operates them nationwide in partnership with large theater chains such as Aeon Cinemas and United Cinemas. In 2012, 4DX's European debut was in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. One year later, 4DX debuted in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. In 2017, CJ 4DPLEX partnered with France's Pathé and Denmark's Nordisk Film Kino to open its first 4DX theater in Europe. It quickened its expansion in Europe with partnerships with Austrian theater operator Hollywood Megaplex in February 2017 and

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Republic Of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. CJ 4DPLEX started integrating 4DX within the Chinese market in cooperation with its parent company CJ CGV in 2006. In 2013, it signed contracts with UME, a local theater operator in China. In 2014, CJ 4DPLEX made partnerships with Woosang More, WoMai, Beijing Jinbo, and Golden Harvest. In December 2014, CJ 4DPLEX formed a partnership with Wanda Cinema, a Chinese theater operator. In 2015, 4DX debuted in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

when CJ 4DPLEX and

Nu Metro Cinemas Nu Metro Cinemas is a South African cinema company. Its head office is in Dunkeld West, Gauteng. Nu Metro's history dates to when the first Metro Theatre opened in Johannesburg in 1932. The oldest still-operating Nu Metro cineplex is Bedford, ...

entered a partnership to open 5 4DX theaters in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It opened the first 4DX auditorium in December with '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' at the V&A Waterfront theater. At CinemaCon 2017, 4DX contracted with Australian theater operator

to open its first 4DX theater within one year. It opened at the Century City theater in Melbourne, Victoria on 27 October 2017 with the release of '' Thor: Ragnarok''. It was the first time that the company entered Oceania and the Australian continent, and it made the technology available to six continents.

Reception

Box office

In August 2019, 4DX reached 2.7 million moviegoers. The top three performing films for 4DX in August were '' Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'', ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'', and ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

''. The local films '' The Bravest'' and '' One Piece: Stampede'' performed well in China and Japan. , the top five highest grossing 4DX films are: # ''Avengers: Endgame'' ($34.705 million) # ''Aladdin'' ($24.759 million) # ''Aquaman'' ($21.301 million) # ''The Lion King'' ($16.841 million) # ''Captain Marvel'' ($14.133 million) In 2018, the company attracted a cumulative 24 million viewers a year, recording $290 million in box office revenue. In July 2019, the company attracted 3.07 million viewers and $38 million in ticket sales globally.

Awards

* 2014: 4DX won the I3DS (International 3-D and Advanced Imaging Society) "Cinema Innovation of the Year" award. * 2015: 4DX won the Edison Awards, Silver Prize for Media and Visual Communication Entertainment Category. * 2017: 4DX was one of "The Most Innovative Companies of 2017" for the Live Events Category by the magazine ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

''. * 2018: 4DX and ScreenX won the Edison Awards, Silver Prize for Media and Visual Communication Entertainment Category. * 2018: 4DX won the "Innovation Technology of the Year Award" at Big Cine Expo. * 2019: 4DX and ScreenX won the iResearch Award, Originative Cinema Technology Category. * 2019: 4DX was one of "The Most Innovative Companies of 2019" for the Live Events Category by ''

''.

Variations

4DX VR

4DX has expanded to virtual-reality, also known as 4DX VR, which utilizes a set of specific 4DX model seats consisting of VR headsets, similar to that of virtual reality amusement rides, and is described to be the "world's first VR theater". First showcased at the AAE 2017 and later IAAPA Attractions Expo 2017, it plays exclusive virtual reality-produced films, short films, as well as games and movie trailers. There are at least six versions of the 4DX VR technology brand: Disk for horizontal rotation, Ride which consists of four-to-eight seats on a 6-axis motion-platform, Racing for presentations focused on the racing genre, Sway and Twist in which seats enable twist and side movements, motion-chair which is a singular 4DX chair consisting of the VR headsets, and Sports for sports-focused presentations with specific

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

, and

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

designs.

Ultra 4DX

The Ultra 4DX technology (formerly 4DX with ScreenX and 4DX Screen) combines the multi-screen projection, known as

ScreenX ScreenX is a panoramic film format which presents films with an expanded, dual-sided, 270-degree screens projected on the walls in a theater. First introduced in 2012, it is created by CJ 4DPLEX, a subsidiary of the CJ CGV group which also creat ...

, and the motion-seats in a theater. It was first introduced in 2018 and made its debut in CinemaCon 2018. Both technologies are owned by CJ 4DPLEX.

Films

References

External links

*
Official FacebookOfficial YouTube
{{CJ Group 2009 introductions Motion picture film formats 3D imaging South Korean inventions Film formats 4D films CJ CGV