IMAX enjoying multiple tailwinds
June 20, 2022
By Chris Forrester
IMAX’s May 2022 global box office was higher than that of pre-Covid levels, and its future performance should be supported by a good slate of movies for the second half of 2022 and 2023, says the company.
IMAX also announced that it had also struck an agreement with the UK’s Odeon Cinemas Group (owned by AMC Entertainment) to upgrade six IMAX theatres where the giant screen company’s existing IMAX theatres will be fitted with IMAX Laser technology. The equipment will also be fitted to IMAX theatres in new theatres in Europe.
Odeon is IMAX’s largest partner in Europe, with 34 theatres in operation and an additional 11 new locations to be installed by 2025.
IMAX and AEON Entertainment recently expanded their partnership with an agreement for two new IMAX with Laser systems in Japan. Both the systems will be located at prime retail complexes in major Japanese cities. IMAX is also expanding in Thailand which brings the company’s total presence to seven screens in the Thai market.
As of March 31st 2022, there were 1,690 IMAX Theater Systems operating in 87 countries and territories, including 1,606 commercial multiplexes, 12 commercial destinations and 72 institutional locations.
As to the company’s current prospects, Richard Gelfond (CEO) reported extremely healthy box office results for Top Gun: Maverick and the latest Jurassic World release (a $25 million opening weekend).
“We were confident that this summer would unleash a wave of pent-up demand for long-delayed, highly anticipated tentpole releases, and the early results of films like Jurassic World: Dominion are validating,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “This summer slate is tailormade for IMAX, and we’ve hit the trifecta with three consecutive big openings on the season so far — demonstrating the strength of the IMAX Experience and our blockbuster-centric model.”
The strong summer slate continues for IMAX in the weeks ahead, with several forthcoming Filmed for IMAX releases, including Disney/Pixar’s Lightyear — which makes pioneering use of IMAX technology for animation capture; Thor: Love and Thunder; and Jordan Peele’s NOPE which was shot with IMAX film cameras. Highly anticipated releases The Minions: Rise of Gru and Bullet Train also arrive on IMAX screens this summer.