Imax is out this Sunday with Brandi Carlile: In The Canyon Haze – Live from Laurel Canyon on 31 screens nationwide, an encore of a live event that reps a milestone for the large format exhibitor. The concert was broadcast Thursday from LA’s storied Laurel Canyon neighborhood to 87 Imax theaters (there would have been
IMAX
Imax Corp. has acquired Ssimwave, an Ontario-based AI-driven tech firm whose clients include media giants from Disney and Paramount Global to Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCU parent Comcast. It’s a cash and stock deal worth $21 million. Imax has also worked with Ssimwave, an expert in enhancing on-demand and live visual imagery for broadcast and
Big screen exhibitor Imax has extended the employment agreement of chief executive Richard Gelfond through Dec. 31, 2025. The amendment to Gelfond’s initial agreement, effective as of January 1, 2023, also commits to annual equity award grants in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Otherwise his compensation and severance terms remain the same, according to an SEC
Imax just cut a deal for six new big-screen installations in China this year — “a very positive development,” according to CEO Rich Gelfond. The company is a big player in the Chinese market, which is still strained by Covid lockdowns and in limbo for Western theatrical releases. He noted the new contract during a
No, the tabloid headlines about all the behind-the-scenes mishesgoss on Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling isn’t hurting ticket sales. The Imax Live Experience advance screening for the Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine genre movie was the fast-selling for the large format exhibitor to date with 21 Imax locations selling out in 24 hours. And these
“I do think the studies will get paid, like they usually do, whatever they are owed. Because we are the suppliers and that’s usually what happens,” Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns said Wednesday of the Chapter 11 filing earlier in the day by Regal Cinemas’ parent Cineworld. “Those things seem to go through the same
Cineworld, staggering under heavy debt and facing a dip in box office revenue this quarter, asserted Friday that it’s business as usual for the giant movie chain while it explores options. The statement follows a report today that the U.K parent of Regal Cinemas is preparing to file for bankruptcy. Cineworld presaged a potential Chapter 11
Big format giant Imax reported a surge in revenue last quarter and narrower losses compared with a shuttered 2020 as CEO Rich Gelfond said a deluge of Hollywood tentpoles arriving will drive people to theaters. The stock popped higher in after hours trading — up more than 3.5%. Imax posted revenue of $51 million revenue
Despite Disney’s experimentation with releasing movies like Black Widow and Jungle Cruise day-and-date in theaters and in the home on the PVOD tier of their streaming service Disney+ Premier, Imax CEO Rich Gelfond doesn’t believe the model will be the new normal moving forward. “Every studio has seen the same data that Disney has seen. What Disney did
UPDATE: Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow narrowly led the international box office for Hollywood films this weekend, grossing an additional $29.9M from 48 material markets. That’s a 55% drop from opening, which most agree is decent even if there’s no getting around the fact that these are not Marvel-ous numbers. The overseas total is now even with
Imax announced Monday that Marvel Studios’ Black Widow — set for released by Disney July 9, will debut with 22 minutes of select scenes in expanded aspect ratio exclusively in Imax. The Scarlett Johansson-starrer is the first new movie in “Phase Four” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first new Marvel Studios theatrical release
Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong has reached a new global benchmark, crossing $400M with a cume through Sunday of $406.6M worldwide. Of that, $320M comes from the international box office in 41 markets. The monster mash, already the biggest Hollywood movie of the pandemic era, continues to track above its Monsterverse predecessors.
Imax and Imagine Documentaries have formed a five-year production and distribution agreement, a slate which will include movies on the subjects of space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. The first title to be released under the agreement is Eliza McNitt’s Mars 2080 in 2022, produced by Apollo 13‘s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard,
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond earned $6.9 million last year, down slightly from $7.1 million in 2019 as the pandemic shuttered theaters and Imax screens around the world. The package included base pay of $1.2 million and a stock award valued at $5.5 million. Imax, while hard hit like the rest of the industry, was able
Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong continues to dominate the global and international box office, now with a $288.3M cume offshore for $357.8M worldwide. It will soon cross Tenet globally and overseas. Domestically, it has overtaken Tenet to become the No. 1 grossing movie of the pandemic era. The full overseas weekend was
Refresh for latest…: After logging the best pandemic-era start for a Hollywood movie at the international box office last weekend, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong has punched up $285.4M worldwide through Sunday. The overseas running total, which added $76.1M this weekend, is $236.9M, giving GVK bragging rights as the quickest studio movie released during Covid
Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar held the top spot at the global and international box office this weekend with $14.1M in China for the Friday-Sunday frame. The 2009 sci-fi epic re-released in the Middle Kingdom last weekend — when it reclaimed the title of all-time highest-grossing movie worldwide from Avengers: Endgame — and now
Refresh for latest…: As we first reported yesterday, James Cameron’s Avatar is again king of the all-time worldwide box office, having snapped the title back from Avengers: Endgame thanks to a very robust China reissue this session. The full three-day frame in the Middle Kingdom is estimated at $21.1M, also giving the sci-fi epic bragging
Scoring another record with a local title in Japan, IMAX has had its best opening day ever for a film there with Shin Evangelion. Overall, the movie, which is the fourth and final installment in the Rebuild Of Evangelion series, grossed nearly 828M yen ($7.6M). Of that, the IMAX portion was $740K. The sci-fi animated
Imax sales slumped last quarter but beat Wall Street estimates and it swung to a loss. The stock popped in late trading as the company highlighted a strong box office in China and Japan, upbeat outlook and continued sales of its big-screen systems despite the pandemic. Revenue of $56 million was down from $124 million
Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ hybrid live-action/animated feature Tom & Jerry began offshore rollout in mid-February, and this session became the first studio title to hit China in the wake of the Lunar New Year, as well as adding a host of other new markets. The Hanna-Barbera rascals scampered off with a further $19.4M from
Shares of the nation’s largest theater chain bucked a down market Tuesday, fortifying their advance of the day before after news that cinemas in New York City will open soon after a year-long lockdown as Covid infection rates fall in the city and state. AMC Ent. stock is up 16% in late morning trades after
Chinese moviegoers ushered in the Year of the Ox with the colossal three-day debut of Detective Chinatown 3 grossing an estimated RMB 2.57B ($398M). This tops Avengers: Endgame’s 2019 five-day China bow of RMB 2.22B to make DC3 not only the biggest opener in Chinese history, but also giving it bragging rights to the biggest
China’s box office is primed for a sparkling Lunar New Year frame as new titles start rollout on Friday. As we noted this past Sunday, pre-sales had alread begun to pop, with threequel Detective Chinatown 3 in the lead. The film from Chen Sicheng as of 11:30PM local time on Thursday had hit over RMB
Talk about pent-up demand. Detective Chinatown 3, which was originally scheduled to hit Chinese cinemas during the Lunar New Year period in 2020, has sprung out of the gate today with an astonishing Maoyan-estimated RMB 1.05B ($163M) to score the biggest opening-day gross ever of any movie in a single market. The debut overtakes Avengers:
Disney/Pixar’s Soul continues to shine overseas with a $96.2M cume after seven frames. In 11 markets this session, the Pete Docter-helmed original added $6.9M to its international box office kitty with No. 1s again in Russia and Korea. In China, it has surpassed Incredibles 2 to become the market’s 2nd highest-grossing Pixar title ever. China
As exhibitors get set to report results from the last quarter of their annus horribilis, 2020, one Wall Street bull is predicting record box office in 2023. Eric Wold, a veteran analyst with B. Riley Securities, acknowledged in a note to clients that exhibitors’ efforts to emerge from the abyss of Covid-19 have been hampered
Refresh for latest…: Disney/Pixar’s Soul got off to a jazzy start in Korea this weekend, debuting at No. 1 and seeing the second best bow for a non-local title since the Covid pandemic began. The Pete Docter-directed original also launched in Russia, at No. 1, and came in ahead of several pre-Covid animation openings. In
International box office was led again by China this weekend with local titles A Little Red Flower and Shock Wave 2 at the top of the charts, and Disney/Pixar’s Soul continuing its jazzy run there. The Pete Docter-directed original is soon to become Pixar’s No. 3 highest-grossing title ever in the market. Other weekend highlights
With an estimated $12.4B in global grosses, $10.2B of which came from the international box office, 2020 was off overall by 71% and 67%, respectively, from 2019 according to Gower Street Analytics. It’s a year the world at large would like to forget, but in industry terms it provided interesting phenomena to reflect upon even