The Mall of Qatar – a $824 million shopping complex currently under construction near Education City – plans to host the country’s third IMAX cinema when it opens next year.

Mall officials have announced that their 19 screen Cinemacity movie complex will include an IMAX screen equipped with a brand-new digital laser projection system, the first IMAX to be equipped with the new technology in the region.

Shem Krey, deputy managing director of the Mall of Qatar, said in a statement that the new system “ensures the sharpest and most lifelike picture quality ever seen on a large scale screen.”

The complex will also include six “VIP” screens, more than 3,000 seats and a 10-lane bowling alley.

The mall itself, which will house more then 400 stores, a 5 star hotel and 82 restaurants, is still on schedule to open in the third quarter of 2015, a spokeswoman told Doha News this morning, adding that the identities of some of the mall’s main tenants will be announced soon.

Second IMAX to open soon

Meanwhile, the Pearl Qatar is expected to open the country’s second IMAX theater sometime this year, inside a new cinema complex at Medina Centrale.

The Gulf Film-managed complex will include 10 screens, a private lounge and multiple dining options.

It was originally slated to open in 2012, but is now thought to be on track for a 2014 opening, although no official opening date has been announced yet.

Meanwhile, the IMAX concept will cease to be the only “full immersion” cinema experience in town in a couple of years.

The team behind Doha Festival City (DFC) has announced that they will introduce a new ‘4D’ film experience in their 15-screen VOX cinema complex, which is due to be completed in late 2016.

Vox cinema-goers will be able to experience 4DX, a technology which allows viewers to experience sensations as well as visuals – such as rain, fog, wind, bubbles, scents and vibrations – depending on what’s happening on-screen.

Are you an IMAX fan? Thoughts?