MUMBAI: Imax Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures have announced that the upcoming blockbuster Batman Begins will be simultaneously released to Imax and on conventional 35mm theatres globally on 17 June 2005.

The film explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. It will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The Imax Experience with proprietary Imax Digital Re-mastering (DMR) technology for the Imax release.

Last year Warner had a simultaneous Imax release for Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban as well as The Polar Express. The announcement marks the eight venture between Warner and Imax.

Imax co-chairmen and co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler said, "This film will be the latest in a series of fantastic Warner Bros. Pictures releases which have helped change the way moviegoers experience Hollywood movies. Warner Bros. Pictures has been an instrumental partner in establishing this trend and advancing the Imax theatre network as the newest distribution platform for Hollywood content."

Christian Bale will don the mantle of the caped crusader. The story finds the disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne in the wake of his parents' murder, traveling the world to seek the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.

He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the
sinister forces that threaten the city.

Michael Caine plays Bruce Wayne / Batman's trusted butler, Alfred. Liam Neeson plays Wayne's mentor; Katie Holmes stars as Rachel Dawes, a childhood friend of Wayne's.