IMAX Corp and Brazilianretail developer Tacla Shopping have signed an agreement to build the South American nation's first IMAX cinema.

The new cinema will be part of a 10-cinema multiplex to be installed in the proposed Palladium Shopping Centre in Curitiba, which is anticipated to be the largest shopping mall in southern Brazil.

As with most new IMAX facilities, the cinema will be designed to handle both traditional 2D and 3D IMAX content as well as MPX pictures, which are reformatted conventional 35mm Hollywood titles.

IMAX co-chief executive officers and co-chairmen Richard Gelfond and Brad Wechsler said they hoped the move into the large and untapped Brazilian market could drive expansion throughout the Latin American region.

This marks the giant-screen company's fourth Latin American deal in 2005. More details will be announced at a press conference in Curitaba on Oct 26.