Launch Sets Global Box Office Record for IMAX With $23.1 Million

LOS ANGELES, Jul 5, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) --

IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) and Paramount Pictures announced today that Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D, the third film in the blockbuster Transformers franchise, posted a record opening in IMAX(R) theatres, generating $23.1 million globally since launch. The total IMAX domestic take was $14 million, while the 146 domestic theatres that played Transformers: Dark of the Moon exclusively generated $88,500 per screen. The overall box office gross for the movie in the U.S. stands at $180,650,000 million through Monday.

Internationally, the movie earned $218.1 million from 111 international markets in its opening frame (through Sunday), with the 105 IMAX screens grossing $9.1 million (through Monday) for a per-screen average of $87,000. The film is set to run on approximately 148 IMAX screens overseas with several key markets like China and Japan still to open.

"Clearly, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a film audiences really wanted to see in IMAX theatres," said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. "This represents, by far, the best opening of the year for us, with capacity constraints being the only factor that limited our numbers. The tremendous opening weekend results demonstrate that IMAX is the best way to see blockbuster films."

"The day-to-day consistency of these record-setting results demonstrate the strong word of mouth for the picture itself as well as for The IMAX Experience(R)," said Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment. "Michael Bay has created a film that speaks directly to our core audience, and we're thrilled to be a part of this worldwide phenomenon."

Transformers: Dark of the Moon: An IMAX 3D Experience has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-mastering) technology for presentation in IMAX 3D. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique immersive environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. When a mysterious event from Earth's past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third film in the Transformers franchise and the first shot in 3D. It is directed by Michael Bay, written by Ehren Kruger and produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. The film has been rated PG-13.

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry's top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company's new digital projection and sound systems - combined with a growing blockbuster film slate - are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX theaters deliver the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo and Shanghai. As of March 31, 2011, there were 528 IMAX theatres (408 commercial, 120 institutional) operating in 46 countries.

IMAX(R), IMAX(R) 3D, IMAX DMR(R), Experience It In IMAX(R), An IMAX 3D Experience(R) and The IMAX Experience(R) are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

The IMAX Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6469

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by the Company, competitive actions by other companies, the performance of IMAX DMR films, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes in law or regulations, conditions, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions and any future international expansion, foreign currency fluctuations and the Company's prior restatements and the related litigation and investigation by the SEC and the ongoing inquiry by the OSC. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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SOURCE: IMAX Corporation

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