- IMAX is rapidly gaining market share and poised for growth in the coming years.
- CEO Rich Gelfond is forecasting a $1.2 billion year for the company, which would be a record for the 55-year-old business. Wall Street analysts expect 2026 will be even better.
- The company has around 1,700 screens worldwide and contracts to build about 500 more.
Applestruck strike an agreement with IMAX more than a year before “F1: The Movie” would finally be released in theaters.
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The picture made around $300 million worldwide in its first ten days of release thanks to the studio’s agreement to use IMAX’s camera technology and to release it in its theaters for three weeks.
Screenings in IMAX accounted for almost 20% of that total. A quarter of all domestic ticket sales for the movie have come from the company’s cinemas in the United States and Canada. The fact that IMAX screens make up less than 1% of all movie screens worldwide just serves to highlight how amazing that accomplishment is.
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Two more films that were released this year, “Sinners” by Warner Bros. and “Mission: Impossible” by Paramount, have surpassed 20% of the market. The Last Reckoning.
It’s encouraging for IMAX’s position in the quickly changing motion picture business.
Although IMAX has long been a sought-after location for movie theater releases, it is rapidly gaining market share and is expected to enjoy exponential growth in the years to come as customer preferences continue to change toward premium experiences.
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According to CEO Rich Gelfond, the corporation will make $1.2 billion this year at the global box, which would be a record for the 55-year-old company and 33% more than its 2024 take. Analysts on Wall Street predict that 2026 will be even better.
“Post-pandemic a lot of activities, especially event activities, have really done well [for] premium brands,” Gelfond stated to CNBC. “Ticket prices for concerts have increased. The cost of premium tickets has increased. You see the same thing when you watch athletic activities. Broadway. I believe that even while people like to sit at home and stream and watch streaming items, they want something different when they leave the house.
IMAX stock has seen a surge in support from investors. Over the past 12 months, the company’s shares have increased by over 60%.
In addition to having immersive audio systems, IMAX displays are noticeably bigger than regular cinema screens. The business does more than just show movies; many of the films that are seen in IMAX were produced with cameras and technology that the company created especially for the IMAX viewing experience.
“This year, we have eight movies in a row in North America that were filmed with IMAX cameras, and typically the box office goes higher when you shoot with the cameras,” Gelfond stated. And there are a few explanations for that. First of all, it’s a superior method of viewing and hearing it. Additionally, the filmmakers usually support it more and recommend it to their audiences as the ideal method to view their work. And it, in my opinion, is a strong incentive for viewers to visit the IMAX.
Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” movie, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” and even Tom Cruise’s most recent “Mission: Impossible” film are examples of “filmed for IMAX” films.
IMAX movie tickets are usually a few dollars more expensive than regular movie tickets, which can increase the amount of money made at the box office.
Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese stated, “The more ‘filmed for IMAX’ titles, the more outperformance you seen on the film for IMAX titles.” “The higher the margins, the better. In addition to higher-caliber title acquisitions in 2026, I anticipate that the studios will take more control of their marketing efforts with even more potential as margins improve in 2025.”
Eric Handler of Roth claimed that IMAX was facing a “high-class problem of too much content availability.”
Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” lost out on a domestic IMAX release and was only shown on IMAX screens in China as a result of the “F1” arrangement for three weeks of screen programming. Next month, that movie will also be shown in Japanese IMAX theaters.
With several big franchise picture releases planned for 2025 and 2026, the domestic film schedule is looking good. “Superman” from Warner Bros. and “Fantastic Four: First Steps” from Disney and Marvel are upcoming. Then Disney’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opens in theaters shortly before Christmas, while Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” arrives before Thanksgiving.
Beginning with Amazon’s “Project Hail Mary,” 2026 will also include a new Avengers movie, the first Star Wars movie to be released in theaters since 2019, a live-action “Moana” sequel, “Toy Story 5”, and “Shrek 5.” Additionally included is Nolan’s upcoming feature film, “The Odyssey.”
One factor contributing to IMAX’s box office success is new Hollywood films.
“Not only are they benefiting from Hollywood’s recovery, they’re also taking advantage of the global footprint and showing local language movies in China, in Japan and South Korea and parts of Europe,” said Eric Handler, an analyst with Roth.
He pointed out that “Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese release that has sold over $2 billion worldwide, was an especially successful local language movie for IMAX. The movie’s screening brought in close to $170 million for the firm.
Additionally, IMAX still has room to expand.
Approximately 400 of the company’s 1,700 displays are located in North America at the moment. Gelfond said CNBC that the business has agreements to construct roughly 500 additional IMAX screens.
According to him, the business will provide more precise information when it releases its financial report later this month.
“We signed almost as many new theaters this year as we signed for the whole year last year,” Gelfond stated. “So there’s a lot of growth.”
Disclosure: CNBC and NBCUniversal are owned by Comcast.
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