Imax saw its highest grossing first quarter ever at the global box office with $298 million on the strength of a record-breaking Chinese New Year holiday, which delivered triple the company’s previous best with $182 million.
Phenomenon Ne Zha 2 has earned more than $164 million in Imax, the company’s highest grossing local language. animated film, and release in China ever. Global box office of $298 million in Q1 was up 12% year-over-year with other top grossing first quarter titles including Captain America: Brave New World ($27 million), Mickey 17 ($11 million) and Interstellar re-release ($10 million).
Overall, the company beat on revenue, which rose 10% to $87 million (vs $84.2 million Wall Street anticipated). Adjusted earnings per share was in line at 13 cents. Shares are down in after hours trade.
This year is seeing a record number of so-called filmed for Imax releases worldwide including Sinners last weekened, which kicked off a run of eight consecutive Hollywood releases filmed with Imax cameras.
The company affirmed expectations of $1.2 billion in global box office in 2025. It has significant presence in China, which has said it will modestly scale back the number of Hollywood films it takes amid a trade way with the Trump administration.
The company delivered signings for 95 new and upgraded Imax systems worldwide in Q1 – it’s second best first quarter sales result.
The company “is off to an excellent start in 2025 — the fundamentals of our business have never been stronger, with record global box office and strong system sales and installations growth in the first quarter,” said CEO Rich Gelfond. “With a remarkable global slate scheduled over the next several years and surging demand among exhibitors, we believe we are entering a new era of growth for the company.”
Results in Q1, he said showed growth across key strategic areas including local language and alternative content, and system sales and installations — and underscore the strength of our diversified content portfolio, with a record-breaking Chinese New Year and strong alternative content lineup more than offsetting a slow start to the Hollywood slate.” Exhibitors, he rightly noted, are increasingly adding Imax screens as the format tends to over-index the broader market.
He’ll be talking about the numbers shortly on a call with analysts set for 4:30 ET.
