Total IMAX global box office over four-day period reaches $53 million - including three local-language titles released in China over Chinese New Year

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) today announced that Marvel Studios' Black Panther pounced into IMAX® theatres with a record-setting $35 million four-day global debut on 676 screens (excluding China), making it the largest opening ever for an IMAX release in February. Domestically, Black Panther set a new February and Marvel IMAX record, grossing $23.5 million in four days on 404 IMAX domestic screens.

IMAX Logo. (PRNewsFoto/IMAX Corporation)

"Black Panther has become part of the zeitgeist as well as a global box office sensation," said Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment and Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp. "We extend a big congratulations to our friends, director Ryan Coogler, Kevin Feige and teams Disney and Marvel, for creating a remarkable film that continues to beat expectations every step of the way. Audiences around the world have truly embraced the differentiated IMAX experience and with stellar reviews and incredibly strong word-of-mouth, we look forward to the film's continued success in IMAX – especially as it broadens to other markets."

International IMAX weekend results for the film over the same period reached $11.5 million from 272 international sites. IMAX locations in Nigeria, Kenya and Indonesia all reported their best opening weekends ever with other notable overseas markets including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Korea and Denmark. The film is scheduled to open in additional territories including Russia (Feb. 22), where the film will receive a four-day-early release in IMAX, as well as Japan (March 1) and China (March 9).

While Black Panther dominated the global box office, three local-language titles took center stage in China during the Chinese New Year four-day period. Detective China Town 2, Monster Hunt 2 and Operation Red Sea shared IMAX screens and generated a combined record $18 million – representing a 60 percent increase in the IMAX box office over last year's holiday period. In total, IMAX posted a combined global box office of $53 million over the four-day period, marking the second-highest-grossing weekend in the Company's history.

Foster continued: "This weekend's China results clearly highlight the benefits of our new, multi-title strategy. By providing Chinese audiences with a greater variety of high-quality content during the Chinese New Year period, we were able to capitalize on audience preference and maximize our box office returns, which were were up 60 percent over last year's holiday period. We look forward to these films' continued successful runs over the coming days as well as the upcoming release of Black Panther in China."

About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you've never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX's network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, and Shanghai. As of Sept. 30, 2017, there were 1,302 IMAX theatre systems (1,203 commercial multiplexes, 13 commercial destinations, 86 institutional) operating in 75 countries. On Oct. 8, 2015, shares of IMAX China, a subsidiary of IMAX Corp., began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code "HK.1970."

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience®, IMAX Is Believing® and IMAX nXos®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).

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX 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. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

For additional information please contact:

Business Media:
IMAX Corporation – New York
Ann Sommerlath
212-821-0155
asommerlath@imax.com

Sloane & Company – New York
Whit Clay
212-446-1864
wclay@sloanepr.com

Investors:
IMAX Corporation – New York
Michael K. Mougias
212-821-0187
mmougias@imax.com

Entertainment Media:
Principal Communications Group – Los Angeles
Melissa Zukerman/Paul Pflug
323-658-1555
melissa@pcommgroup.com
paul@pcommgroup.com

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SOURCE IMAX Corporation