It's a bird. It's a plane. No - it's super Imax, now in 3-D

Superman will leap tall buildings and fly faster than a speeding bullet in a 3-D version of Superman Returns at the Imax movie theatre at Village Skycity Cinemas in Auckland's Queen St.

The Imax megascreen will re-open for 3-D Hollywood blockbusters on June 28 after the giant screen closed in April 2002 following a loss-making run of mostly nature spectaculars .

The Imax 3-D theatre opened in mid-1999.

Superman Returns director Bryan Singer has chosen certain segments of the movie to show in 3-D for extra impact, and fans will be given a visual cue to put on special 3-D glasses.

Other films coming to the giant screen in 3-D, Open Season, Ant Bully and Happy Feet, will be fully animated in 3-D.

The plan highlights a trend by some major Hollywood studios toward placing more 3-D movies in theatres to generate excitement and lure fans in the face of a recent decline in movie theatre attendance.

One American enterprise has gone a step further to create a 4-D experience. A New Jersey aquarium features mist, fog and shaking seats to go along with a 3-D movie on sea life.

Superman Returns stars Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, who comes back to Earth only to find the love of his life, Lois Lane, has moved on. All the while, an old nemesis plots his destruction.