For its reopening, La Géode invites the Lion King

After six years of work, and six months late, the historic hall of Parc de la Villette finally reopens. And offers a program for the general public for the holidays to thrill with the family to the sound of the roars of the famous feline or the tyrannosaurus rex.

OHe didn’t believe it anymore. Pathé discreetly announced it last Monday on Facebook: after almost six years of closure, La Géode actually reopened its doors yesterday, Wednesday December 18. The legendary projection room of the Cité des sciences, located in the Parc de la Villette, in the north-east of Paris, was inaugurated in 1985. A spherical building by architect Adrien Fainsilber, 36 meters in diameter, equipped a giant hemispherical screen 26 meters in diameter and 1,000 square meters, purchased in 2018 by the Gaumont-Pathé group and since closed for renovation.

Three hundred spectators

Initially, the end of the work was announced for spring 2024, in line with numerous other inaugurations in preparation for the Paris Olympics. In the meantime, no communication had been made about the delay in reopening and doubt hovered around the place. Now the hall, which can accommodate a little less than three hundred spectators, has the “very first IMAX Laser 4K projector in dome format installed in France”, depending on the distributor. “The Géode offers sharper images, deeper contrasts, and the widest color gamut available. IMAX 6.0 precision sound rounds it all out, ensuring sound delivery with impressive clarity and depth. » There is no doubt about the immersive side of the structure, which plunges the viewer into the heart of the video, right from the entrance hall. Wall projections accompanied by sound games introduce the experience. At the exit of the elevators which lead to the cinema room, the dizzying slope of the stands makes it all the more impressive.

In terms of programming, the sphere offers several immersive documentaries during the day and films, among the most popular at the box office, in the evening. Programs for the general public linked, among other things, to the scientific and animal fields. So the film Mufasa : The Roi Lion will be broadcast every evening in December until the end of the school holidays.

Comfortable armchairs

We attended one of the first sessions of the day. 180° immersion in the world of T-Rexes and other Cretaceous creatures, with an American documentary made specifically for the spherical format. For about forty minutes, we follow a group of paleontologists in the rocky hills of the Hell Creek formation (Western America), which are full of dinosaur fossils. The computer-generated images then propel us sixty-seven million years ago, very close to the impressive triceratops, edmontosaurus or pterodactyls, which hover above our heads. However, only one seems to dominate the world, the famous tyrannosaurus rex, king of tyrannical lizards. Be careful not to meet its gaze too much, especially when the predator goes hunting… We feel the roars of the animal, both majestic and terrifying, as well as the vibrations of the ground, which trembles as it passes. As for the projection quality of the image, it particularly highlights the physical details of the specimen and the green landscapes of the film.

To experience innovation and sink into comfortable armchairs that smell new, you will have to pay between 10 and 13 euros for documentaries and 15 to 25 euros for fiction films. As a welcome offer, Pathé is offering a special promotion to the public, with one place bought, one place free.