'Titanic' ticket sales in China set $7 million record for Imax

Imax Corp., the big-screen theater company, this week sank its previous box office record in China with the 3-D release of "Titanic."

Since its release April 10, the 3-D version of director James Cameron's 1997 epic drama starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio has grossed an estimated $74 million in overall ticket sales in China -- breaking previous box office records in that country.

That was a windfall for the studio that released the film, 20th Century Fox, and also for Imax, which accounted for a record-breaking $7 million in opening week ticket sales from 64 of its theaters in China, the company said in a statement. (The re-release of "Titanic" has so far produced $210 million in ticket sales globally, with Imax theaters accounting for $15 million.) 

"As the record-breaking results demonstrate, Chinese moviegoers have a huge appetite for 'Titanic 3D,'  Jim Cameron's one-of-a-kind filmmaking, and are passionate about seeing it in the most immersive way,'' said Greg Foster, chairman and president of filmed entertainment for Imax.

The Canadian-based company, which has a large operation in Santa Monica, has been expanding its business in China. Last year, Imax formed a joint venture with China's largest cinema operator, Wanda Cinema Line Corp., to open 75 theaters in 25 locations by 2014.

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3-D is helping brighten the picture for Imax

--Richard Verrier

Photo: Kate Winslet in "Titanic." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Veteran distribution exec Andrew Cripps joins Imax

Imax Corp., the big-screen theater company, has hired veteran international executive Andrew Cripps to be president of its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

Cripps, who is filling a new position in the fast-growing Canadian company, will be responsible for the expansion of the Imax theater network in those regions.

One of Hollywood's most respected foreign distribution and marketing executives, Cripps joins Imax from Paramount Pictures International in London, where he had been president since January 2007.  Previously, he was president and chief operating officer of United International Pictures , a joint venture distribution company founded by Paramount, Universal and MGM.

He joined UIP in 1986 as executive assistant to the general manager for Japan, and was later promoted to the roles of vice president of sales in Southeast Asia and senior vice president of international sales. Cripps spent 19 years in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese.

“Given Andrew’s leadership, vast industry experience and strong relationships with exhibitors and studios, we believe he is well-equipped to help us maximize the growth opportunities that exist in the underpenetrated markets of" Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Imax Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said in a statement. “Our goals for 2012 include igniting our expansion efforts in Latin America, India and Europe, and bringing someone of Andrew’s caliber on board further demonstrates our commitment to achieving these objectives."

Cripps, a native of Sri Lanka and a British citizen, said he was "delighted to join Imax, a company I know and respect and a name that is synonymous with quality entertainment. I hope to leverage my more than 20 years in Europe, as well as my relationships with exhibitors, to expand the Imax network and grow the brand.”

Imax, which has a large operation in Santa Monica, has 96 theaters in Europe, Middle East and Africa and plans to open 33 more throughout the region by 2014. Imax has nearly 600 theaters in 48 countries, including China, where it could benefit substantially from a new easing of restrictions of foreign films allowed into the country. The Chinese government recently agreed to allow an additional 14 "enhanced" movies into the country each year, primarily those that are available in 3-D or Imax formats.

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3-D is helping brighten the picture for Imax

-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Andrew Cripps, veteran distribution executive, who was hired Wednesday by Imax Corp. Credit: Imax.

Imax signs deal with Kodak to brighten the picture for its biggest screens

Imax Corp. is bringing the digital revolution to its largest screens, thanks to a new deal with Eastman Kodak.

The big-screen entertainment and technology company, based in Mississauga, Canada, announced Sunday that has licensed from Kodak exclusive rights to more than 50 technology patents for a laser technology projection system.

The system will make high quality digital content available, for the first time, to Imax screens larger than 80 feet like the one at Universal CityWalk, and to dome theaters located at museums. Until now, about 170 giant Imax theaters have been limited to screening movies in the traditional analog-film format.

Imax said the technology, which it expects to install by late 2013, will increase the brightness and clarity of screens 80 to 100 feet wide and will allow the company to distribute content in its network with greater efficiency because digital prints are much cheaper to deliver than film reels are. About two-thirds of Imax's 575 theaters, which mostly range from 50 to 70 feet wide, have already been converted to a digital format.

Terms of the royalty agreement with Kodak were not disclosed.

Imax Chief Executive Richard Gelfond described the new Kodak technology as "truly cutting edge" and said that company may eventually roll out the technology to all of its theaters. "This 10-year agreement should give us a big advantage in terms of staying at the top end of quality,'' Gelfond said in an interview.

Although traditionally a film-based company, Imax in 2008 developed a digital system that eliminated hefty film print costs. The system can convert a traditional film into a digital format at a cost of $1.5 million to $2 million. Studios, which distribute the films, hand over about 12.5% ticket sales from an Imax release.

It's not clear how investors will respond to the Kodak deal. Imax shares have fallen 45% in the last six months, following weaker returns from 3-D films like "Mars Needs Moms" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." The company's net income for the quarter ended June 30 fell 87% to $1.8 million from a year earlier, while its revenue of $57.2 million was up 3%.

Still, Imax has been expanding rapidly in countries such as Brazil, Spain, Russia and China. In March, the company announced a deal with Wanda Cinema Line, the largest theater operator in China, to open 75 theaters in China over the next three years.

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3-D is helping brighten the picture for Imax

-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Executives celebrate a partnership between Imax and Wanda Cinema Line in March. Credit: Stefen Chow / Bloomberg

Imax, RealD earnings disappoint, stocks plummet

Wall Street has gotten just as unhappy with pricey 3-D movies as most Americans.

Shares in digital and big screen movie company Imax and 3-D cinema firm RealD plummeted on Thursday following earnings reports that disappointed investors. Imax stock dropped 17%, while RealD stock was down 15% in after-hours trading.

Both companies fell short of analysts' revenue expectations, with Imax missing on net income as well.

The news comes as returns from 3-D screens in the U.S. and Canada for many movies this summer have been unimpressive, including “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Green Lantern.” Overseas, however, people remain more interested in paying extra to see images pop out of the screen.

Canada-based Imax, which plays many but not all of its films in 3-D, reported that movie performance in the quarter ended June 30 was disappointing. “Looking back over the last six months, it appears that there were fewer blockbuster titles that are consistent with our brand than in the same period last year,” chief executive Richard Gelfond said in a statement.

Films released on Imax screens in the first half of the year include “Mars Needs Moms,” “Sucker Punch” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Imax's net income for the quarter was $1.8 million, down 87% from a year ago, while its revenue of $57.2 million was up 3%.

Despite the weak financial news, Imax noted that it signed contracts for 153 new theater systems in the first half of the year, up from 98 in the same period in 2010. International growth is a primary focus, with new theaters opened in Brazil, Italy, and Spain, along with a new foreign operation in China. “We believe we are in the early innings of our global expansion,” Gelfond said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based RealD's $59.6 million in revenue dropped 8%, in contrast to analysts' expectations that it would grow. In investors' minds, that outweighed a 226% increase in net income to $9.6 million that beat analysts' estimates.

As of June 24, the company had 17,500 screens that used it 3-D technology, 10,300 of which were in the U.S. and Canada and 7,200 overseas. Nonetheless 58% of its net licensing revenue came from international markets, underscoring the imbalance in 3-D interest between domestic and foreign audiences.

RealD shares closed up 3% at $18.42 Thursday before the disappointing financial results were released. Imax shares closed at $20.21.

Bad news for the latter company came just three days after its stock dropped 13% on Monday following a downgrade by a prominent analyst.

-- Ben Fritz

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Imax stock plummets on box-office concerns [Updated]

Imax Corp. stock plummeted more than 11% after an analyst raised concerns that the company's digital and large-format screens don't have as much box-office mojo as previously believed.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Ben Mogil downgraded box-office projections for the second half of the year and lowered his target for the company's stock price to $27, from $32. His report came a week after similar predictions were made by Merriman Capital. The stock was trading at $25.33 late Monday.

"We believe that estimates for IMAX for [second half 2011] are too optimistic given that the [fourth quarter 2011] slate has three kids' films, a genre which this year has seen considerably lower 3D share this year compared to last," Mogil wrote.

Most, but not all, Imax movies play in 3-D, a technology that has been dropping in popularity among domestic movie audiences.

Added Merriman's Eric Wold: "[W]e are seeing a consistent pattern with our and consensus IMAX box office assumptions proving to be too aggressive -- which has led to three consecutive quarters of lower-than-expected results."

The stock drop comes as Imax has been boasting about its returns from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." Imax screens have accounted for $41.6 million of that film's $834 million worldwide gross, the highest of any "Potter" film.

Summer has not been kind to Imax stock. Even before Monday's downgrade, the stock has dropped significantly more than 20% from a high of $37.26 on June 2.

[Updated, 1:40 p.m., July 25: Reached for comment, Imax Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said, "We have a diversified slate based on blockbuster films in 2D and 3D, for families and fanboys. We think it’s way too premature to predict how the slate will perform for the year."]

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Imax strikes 75-theater joint venture in China

Imax expanding rapidly in emerging economies

More Imax theaters to be added to Regal's circuit

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Fans at the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2: An Imax Experience" release party. Credit: Rob Kim / Getty Images

Imax strikes 75-theater joint venture in China

Imax Corp., the Canadian-based big-screen theater chain, is substantially expanding its footprint in China in hopes of cashing in on the country's rapidly growing film industry.

In a joint venture with China's largest cinema operator, Wanda Cinema Line Corp., Imax plans to open 75 new theaters in 25 locations by 2014.

The deal with Wanda represents Imax's first full revenue sharing agreement in China and brings the total number of Imax theaters slated to open in China over the next several years to 177.

"Imax represents a premium movie-going experience, and is a key component of our development now and in the future,'' Wanda Cinema Line Corp. said in a statement.

Imax also announced the formation of a China-based company to oversee its expansion in that country.

Although China tightly restricts the number of foreign films it allows to be screened in the country -- to only about 20 a year -- its theater industry is experiencing a boom, as The Times recently reported. 

Over the last four years, the number of screens in China has doubled to more than 6,200, and box-office receipts hit a record $1.5 billion last year, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. China is already considered the world's No. 4 movie market, behind only North America, the European Union and Japan.

Imax's China deal represents the largest single international partnership to date for the company, which has been aggressively expanding worldwide in response to demand for 3-D screens and high-quality digital cinema. As of Dec. 31, Imax had 518 theaters operating in 46 countries.

-- Richard Verrier

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Imax dispels report on pending sale to Sony

Imax Corp. knocked down a report on New Year's Eve that Sony Corp. was preparing to make a bid for the Canadian-based theater company.

Shares of Imax rose as high as 20% on Friday following a report in Britain's Daily Mail that Sony was about to make a bid for Imax at more than $40 a share -- about 40% above the company's current share price, which closed Friday at $28.05. The report, without citing sources, also said Walt Disney Co. might be interested in Imax, known for its big-screen technology.

But Imax issued a statement throwing cold water on such speculation. "IMAX Corporation is not aware of any corporate developments to account for this activity,'' the company said. "The Company's policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, and accordingly does not intend to comment further."

A spokesman for Sony Corp. declined to comment and a representative from Walt Disney Co. was not immediately available.

After struggling with losses, Imax has been enjoying a surge in business over the last two years in response to growing demand for 3-D screens and high-quality digital cinema. The Mississauga, Canada-based Imax, which has more than 440 theaters worldwide, has been expanding rapidly in countries such as Russia and China.

This fall, Imax unveiled a major expansion of its joint-venture agreement with Regal Entertainment Group, the nation's largest theater chain, adding another 16 to 25 Imax theaters to Regal's circuit.

-- Richard Verrier

 

 

More Imax theaters to be added to Regal's circuit

Big-screen technology company Imax Corp. has unveiled a major expansion of its joint venture agreement with Regal Entertainment Group, the nation's largest theater chain.

The companies said the new agreement would bring another 16 to 25 Imax theaters to Regal's circuit, which currently has 34 joint venture theaters with Imax.

The companies intend to open the new theaters by the end of 2012 in such U.S. cities as Albuquerque, Atlanta and Eugene, Ore. Under such joint venture deals, exhibitors cover the costs of configuring their theaters, but Imax supplies the sound and projection equipment and receives a slice of the concession and box-office revenue.

The expansion is just the latest for Mississauga, Ontario-based Imax, which has been rolling out new theaters around the world in response to the growing demand for 3-D screens and high-quality digital cinema. This year alone, Imax has signed agreements for 198 theaters. In all, the Canadian company has 447 theaters operating in 47 countries including China and Russia.

"Imax theaters deliver an immersive presentation of unparalleled sound and image quality and command a premium price from consumers,'' Regal Chief Executive Amy Miles said in a statement.

Imax CEO Richard Gelfond called the development "an important expansion of our relationship with our long-term partner Regal that builds on the success of our existing joint venture theaters."

-- Richard Verrier

Watching 3-D in Imax: It will cost you

Coming to a theater near you: higher ticket prices.

Yes, the price of admission is going up yet again.

And at least one industry analyst thinks theater owners may be going overboard as they seek to capitalize on the crush of 3-D films, especially those offered in Imax wide-screen format, which have become increasingly popular thanks to movies like "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland."

In a March 24 survey of 10 theaters nationwide, analyst Richard Greenfield of investment firm BTIG found that average ticket prices had jumped nearly 10% for Imax 3-D screenings and 8% for regular 3-D viewings. Friday, those same theaters will raise their Imax 3-D prices by an additional 2.3% for adults and 2.8% for children, Greenfield wrote in a follow-up survey.

He noted that at an AMC theater in New York the price of a 3-D movie ticket for DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek Forever After," which debuts this weekend, has climbed to a whopping $20, up from $16.50 in late March.

"Theater owners increasingly believe that consumers are so 'hungry' for 3-D content that they will not mind paying ever-higher prices and that for the best 3-D presentation (meaning Imax 3-D), even greater ticket price premiums are achievable,'' Greenfield wrote.

Indeed, the National Assn. of Theater Owners reported this month that the average ticket price in the first quarter of 2010 climbed 8% from the same period last year -- the largest such yearly increase since the association started tracking quarterly ticket price data in 2001.

"If the summer movie slate proves successful and consumers absorb the dramatic price increases, it is clearly positive for the movie exhibitors and for Imax," Greenfield said. "However, with the state of the economy remaining questionable, we worry pricing is simply moving up too quickly, especially kids' pricing, which is increasing at a faster rate than that of adult tickets."

-- Richard Verrier

Zoradi joins Imax Corp. as strategic advisor

Mark Zoradi, the former president of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, has joined the big screen projection company Imax Corp. as a strategic advisor.

Zoradi spent nearly three decades at Disney, most recently overseeing worldwide marketing and distribution, before he was ousted in November in a series of executive shake-ups led by studio Chairman Rich Ross.

In his new nonexecutive role, Zoradi will advise the Canadian company in all areas of the business, including film acquisition, distribution and marketing.

"The Imax network continues to expand around the globe, and Mark's industry insight and expertise will no doubt help us further establish ourselves as a critical distribution platform for event titles,'' Imax Chief Executive Richard  Gelfond said in a statement.

"Imax is an incredible brand with a distinct and important position in the overall distribution strategy of nearly every major studio,'' Zoradi said.

-- Richard Verrier