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 Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs
Run time: 40 min.
Opening August 9, 2008
Prices, Times and Hours
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs brings to life ancient wonders, historic intrigue and a modern-day forensic adventure, all in one eye-popping IMAX® film. The new sweeping adventure will debut when the upgraded Omni Theater reopens in August 9, 2008.
Why are people endlessly fascinated with mummies? The worldwide curiosity about mummification is an age-old phenomenon as enduring as mummies themselves. During Egypt’s history, literally millions of mummies were made. In Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, filmgoers will marvel at the sight of these human time capsules, shown in larger-than-life detail on the giant screen.
Narrated by actor Christopher Lee (The Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, and the original 1959 film The Mummy), Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs unravels some of the mysteries enshrouding the ancient royal mummies; how they were embalmed and where they were hidden; and also recreates the dramatic story of their recovery. It’s an Indiana Jones-type tale of tomb-raiders and hidden treasure that led to one of the most significant archaeological finds in modern history.
Featuring top researchers, such as Egyptologists Dr. Bob Brier and Dr. Zahi Hawass (head of Egypt’s antiquities) and DNA scientist Angelique Corthals, the film also embarks on a genetic analysis of mummies that could have huge implications for the study of modern human diseases. Filmed by award-winning director Keith Melton (Mystic India, Cirque du Soleil) and renowned cinematographer Reed Smoot (Mysteries of Egypt, Mystic India, Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure), with a screenplay by Arabella Cecil (Kilimanjaro: to the Roof of Africa), Mummies features breathtaking scenes of natural beauty and stunning locations combined with incredible CGI sequences, lavish sets and period recreations that immerse viewers in different eras of Egyptian history. IMAX cameras capture sweeping images of the swirling desert sand dunes and dramatic rocky cliffs of the Northern Sahara and the real wonders of Egypt at key historic sites with treasures honoring Egypt’s most prolific pharaohs.
Mummies takes viewers on a journey back thousands of years, to the age of the great pharaohs, to explore why mummification was so vital to ancient Egyptian life. Surprisingly, the techniques and ingredients used for mummifying have only been pieced together in the last 15 years, after a 2,000-year memory lapse. The film then leaps ahead to the 1800s, when Mummies dramatically recreates the incredible events surrounding the late 19th century discovery of a cache of 40 royal mummies, including 12 Kings of Egypt, in a single tomb. Among them were three of the greatest pharaohs that ever lived: the legendary Rameses the Great—considered to be the pharaoh of the Exodus and perhaps the only face the world can see from the Bible—his father Seti I, and his son. Prior to that, not even one pharaoh had ever been found. Believed by many to be the ultimate archaeological find, it was uncovered a full four decades before Howard Carter found the intact tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamen.
Interwoven throughout the film’s historic narrative is a modern-day forensic story, a scientific journey to extract clues about our past that could have an impact on our future. More than a decade ago, Dr. Brier and a colleague used the clues he had assembled to perform the first human mummification in the Egyptian style since the time of the pharaohs. Now, in the film, he and a DNA specialist check in on the progress of that modern mummy and conduct key genetic testing. The forensic aspect of the film includes a scientific first—a discovery that could help researchers understand how ancient diseases have evolved into modern-day counterparts. Perhaps the DNA held in mummies like Rameses will be able to help to cure people today.
The mummies of Egypt’s pharaohs have meant different things over the centuries. For the ancients they were a source of hope for the afterlife; for the tomb-robbers, a source of wealth; for scholars, a source of knowledge, and for researchers, a source of genetic evidence that could advance medical science. For today’s filmgoers, these mummies are a source of educational entertainment for the whole family that can be experienced in the incomparable IMAX format.
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs is a production of Giant Screen Films and Gravity Pictures, in association with The Franklin Institute, Hugo Productions and the Museum of Science, Boston. Support for the film was provided by the U.S. Dome Theater Alliance. The film is distributed by Giant Screen Films of Evanston, IL.
For more information about Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, go to http://www.mummiesfilm.com/
IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.
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Prices and Museum hours subject to change.
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