IMAX FILM GOES INSIDE THE MIND OF TOUR DE FRANCE CYCLISTS - IN TIME FOR THE TOUR OF MISSOURI

Branson, Missouri – September 5, 2007 – Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France, a Giant Screen IMAX film that combines dramatic images from the centennial Tour de France with spectacular computer-generated and medical imagery premieres in Branson, at Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex, for a special limited engagement through September 16.

“It was perfect timing to bring such an exceptional film into our theater,” says Paul Rasmussen, President, Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex. “It’s our intent to highlight and compliment the Tour of Missouri in its first year, bringing awareness to both the tour and Wired to Win.”

The Tour of Missouri is a 600-mile, six-day world-class bicycle race patterned after the Tour de France, Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California. It is a race that features point-to-point racing. The race starts in Kansas City, September 11 and concludes September 16 in St. Louis, including legs to Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City, and St. Charles. The race will feature teams of eight from 15 of the world’s top professional cycling teams.

“Wired to Win is designed to engage the public in understanding the brain science and chemistry associated with what it takes for the Tour de France riders, and the Tour of Missouri riders, to accomplish a grueling pace of riding over 100 miles each day for such lengths of time,” says Becky Blair, Director of Advertising & Public Relations, Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex.

Using the specially designed 70mm IMAX format famous for its larger-than-life images, a world-class production team captured the breathtaking scenery and dramatic real life storyline of the Tour de France during the 100th anniversary of the famous race.

The Tour de France has been filmed before in smaller formats, but the logistical complexity of following the fast-moving event has made capturing 70mm images exceedingly difficult. To overcome the challenges, the Wired to Win team employed a crew of more than 50, used four cameras, and invested in elaborate research and development prior to the start of the centennial race. Multiple vehicles and gyroscopic mounts were tested, including a redesigned BMW motorcycle equipped with a Libra Head to maintain the stability of the IMAX camera. The camera itself was then operated remotely from a helicopter – something never attempted before. Other scenes were shot from 60-foot cranes positioned along the route.

Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France tells the true story of two riders in the legendary bike race – Australian Baden Cooke, and his French teammate Jimmy Casper – as they attempt to compete in the grueling three-week-long event. Narrated by British thespian Alfred Molina (Spiderman 2, Frida), the film follows Baden, Jimmy and the other elite athletes over the towering peaks of the Alps, through the knotted villages of Provence, and the cobblestone streets of Paris, as they try to avoid danger, deny crushing pain and fatigue, control their emotions, seize fleeting moments of opportunity, and stay highly motivated. Powering each of them, of course, is the source of universal ambition and ability: the human brain, presented here as a dynamic engine of possibility.

Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France shows on the Giant IMAX Screen, daily at 1 pm &?5 pm thru September 16. For more information log on to www.bransonimax.com or call 800-419-4832.