General atmosphere during an IMAX private screening for the movie “First Man” at an AMC theater in New York City on Oct. 10, 2018.
Lars Niki | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
More than a year before “F1: The Movie” would eventually hit theaters, Apple struck a deal with IMAX.
The studio secured the use of IMAX’s camera technology as well as a three-week release in its theaters, a partnership that helped the film generate nearly $300 million globally in its first 10 days in cinemas.
More than 20% of that haul came from IMAX screenings. In the U.S. and Canada, the company’s theaters have accounted for 25% of all domestic ticket sales for the film. That feat is made even more impressive by the fact that IMAX screens represent less than 1% of the total movie screens worldwide.
Two other films released this year have exceeded 20% market share for the company — Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
It’s a sign of strength for IMAX’s place in the rapidly evolving film industry.
IMAX has long been a coveted destination for theatrical releases, but as consumer tastes continue to shift toward premium experiences, it’s quickly gaining market share and poised for exponential growth in the coming years.
CEO Rich Gelfond is forecasting a $1.2 billion year at the global box for the company, which would be 33% higher than 2024’s haul and a record for the 55-year-old business. Wall Street analysts expect 2026 will be even better.
“Post-pandemic a lot of activities, especially event activities, have really done well [for] premium brands,” Gelfond told CNBC. “You look at concerts, ticket prices went up. Premium seats have gone up. You look at sporting events, same kind of thing. Broadway. I think people, although they enjoy staying at home, streaming and watching streaming products, when they go out of the home, they want something sufficient distinguished from that.”
Investors have rallied behind IMAX stock. Shares of the company are up roughly 60% in the last 12 months.
IMAX screens are notably larger than standard movie screens and the theaters feature immersive audio systems. The company doesn’t just screen movies, many of the films that appear in IMAX were shot using cameras and technology developed by the company specifically tailored to 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 said. “And there’s a couple reasons for that. One, it’s a better way of watching it and listening to it. But also, the filmmakers typically get behind it more, and they tell their audiences that it’s the best way to see their work. And I think that’s a powerful impetus for audiences to go to IMAX.”
These “filmed for IMAX” titles include features like Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” films and even the latest “Mission: Impossible” flick from Tom Cruise.
Tickets to see a film in IMAX typically cost a few dollars more than standard movie tickets, which can help to boost a box office haul.
“The more ‘filmed for IMAX’ titles, the more outperformance you seen on the film for IMAX titles,” said Alicia Reese, analyst at Wedbush. “The better the margins are going to be. As you see margins improve in 2025, you’re going to see not just better quality title signings in 2026, but what I expect to see is that the studios will take more ownership of the marketing campaigns with even greater upside.”
General views of the TCL Chinese Theatre promoting the new Tom Cruise film ‘Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning’ in IMAX on May 23, 2025 in Hollywood, California.
Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty Images
Roth’s Eric Handler said that IMAX has a “high-class problem of too much content availability.”
The “F1” deal for three weeks of screen programming meant that Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” got edged out: the film missed out on a domestic IMAX release and was only featured on IMAX screens in China. That film will also appear in IMAX screens in Japan next month.
Domestically, the movie slate is strong is 2025 and 2026, with a number of major franchise film releases on the books. Warner Bros.’ “Superman” hits theaters Friday, and coming soon is Disney and Marvel’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps.” Then Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” arrives ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and Disney’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters just before Christmas.
2026 kicks off with Amazon’s “Project Hail Mary” and will also feature a new Avengers film, the first theatrical Star Wars release since 2019, a sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a live-action “Moana” as well as “Toy Story 5” and “Shrek 5.” And also in the mix is Nolan’s next feature film “The Odyssey.”
New Hollywood releases are just one piece of IMAX’s box office success.
“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, analyst at Roth.
He noted that “Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese release that has generated more than $2 billion in global ticket sales, was a particularly strong local language film for IMAX. The company generated nearly $170 million in receipts from screening the film.
And there’s still room for IMAX to grow.
The company currently has around 1,700 screens worldwide, around 400 of which are in North America. Gelfond told CNBC that the company has contracts to build about 500 more IMAX screens.
He said the company would share more specific details during its earnings report, which is due to be released later this month.
“We signed almost as many new theaters this year as we signed for the whole year last year,” Gelfond said. “So there’s a lot of growth.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
