la Géode reopens its doors after six years of work

The hemispherical room, equipped with “the first Imax Laser 4K projector in dome format installed in France”, promises “clearer images”.

La Géode, whose immense hemispherical cinema screen in the heart of La Villette park, in Paris, has attracted around 25 million spectators for around forty years, reopened its doors on Wednesday December 17 after six years of work.

“On the program for this completely redesigned experience : unmissable documentaries during the day and cinema films in the evening not to be missed”Pathé France wrote on Instagram on Tuesday announcing the reopening. Now showing: the animated film Mufasa : The Lion King and documentaries on the human body, blue whales and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“Equipped with the first Imax Laser 4K projector in dome format installed in France, the Géode offers sharper images, deeper contrasts as well as the widest range of colors available” and improved sound, assured Pathé in this same publication.

The Gaumont-Pathé cinemas now operate this atypical cinema, recognizable by its shimmering sphere 36 m in diameter, located next to the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, in the La Villette park (19th arrondissement) . It had been closed since 2018 for renovation work.

The first of its kind in France when it was inaugurated in 1985 with a screen that covers almost the entire room, the first to be equipped with an Imax projector plunging the spectator into the heart of the action, the Géode had based its model on the projection of documentaries in spectacular formats.

But success had eroded, particularly in the face of competition from cinemas competing with new technologies and the public’s tendency to watch films on other media. Recording 1 million visitors per year in the first years, the cinema was in deficit since 2010. Universcience, a public establishment which brings together the Palais de la Découverte and the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, launched a call for projects for it in 2017. breathe new life.