'' Rise of the Guardians '' had its premiere on October 10 , 2012 , at The Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley , California , followed by the international premiere at The International Rome Film Festival on November 13 , 2012 . Under distribution by Paramount Pictures , the film was released on November 21 , 2012 , in American theaters . Digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D , it was shown in limited international and domestic IMAX theaters . It was the second film released in the firm Barco 's Auro 11.1 3D audio format , after '' Red Tails '' . The film was also shown in Dolby Atmos , a surround sound technology introduced in 2012 . '' Rise of the Guardians '' was the last DreamWorks Animation film distributed by Paramount , as DreamWorks has signed a five-year distribution deal with 20th Century Fox , which started in 2013 with '' The Croods ''
The Mill Valley Film Festival
Mill Valley Film Festival
Rise of the Guardians