IMAX Premium large format screens (PLFs) have experienced a huge boom in popularity in the past year. Despite more expensive tickets, IMAX earned $1.06 billion in global ticket sales last year. While many films opened with IMAX in 2023, it is hard to talk about IMAX’s recent history without talking about Christopher Nolan’s historical epic, Oppenheimer.
During her acceptance speech for Oppenheimer’s recent Best Picture win, producer Emma Thomas shouted out two people: her husband and Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, and IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond, saying, “I want to thank Rich Gelfond at IMAX and everyone else at IMAX for believing in this movie when it maybe didn’t make much sense to do so.” Nolan’s films have a long history with IMAX. 2008’s The Dark Knight was the first feature film to ever be filmed, in part, with IMAX cameras, making Nolan an IMAX pioneer. Nolan’s later films, like Dunkirk, Tenet, and, of course, Oppenheimer, were filmed entirely with IMAX cameras. “The sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled,” said Nolan.“The headline, for me, is by shooting on IMAX 70mm film, you’re really letting the screen disappear. You’re getting a feeling of 3D without the glasses. You’ve got a huge screen and you’re filling the peripheral vision of the audience. You’re immersing them in the world of the film.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s deep dive on IMAX, the company’s record-setting ticket sales in 2023 came from only 1,700 screens, with only 417 of those being located in the United States. Despite 2023 being an overall weak year at the box office, with the exception of a few breakout hits like Barbie, Oppenheimer, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Super Mario Brothers Movie, IMAX has had an incredible year. Gelford claimed that “when you look at the numbers, Imax gives the whole multiplex a lift, not only because of the people we bring in, but because of the sellouts and people who spill over into other theaters.”
While IMAX is not the only PLF-focused company, they consist of half of the PLF sales, despite owning less than half of the overall PLF screens. AMC’s Dolby Cinemas notably hosted Barbie on PLF screens during the historic “Barbenheimer” opening weekend since IMAX had an exclusive deal with Christopher Nolan to screen Oppenheimer. Because of this, Dolby accounted for about 10% of Barbie’s massive $182 million opening weekend.
This past weekend, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire leveled the competition with a $195.1 million opening weekend. Notably, IMAX and other PLF screens made up 48% of the film’s total ticket sales. These higher priced tickets perhaps explain why Godzilla x Kong opened much higher domestically than expected.
Another recent blockbuster, March’s Dune Part Two, also ended up having a larger than expected box office performance. IMAX has contributed to 21% of the film’s current box office gross of $627.3 million, a record performance. Notably, Dune Part Two’s IMAX tickets sold out during its opening weekend leading many fans to wait and see the spectacle on the biggest possible screen as soon as they could.
Even Taylor Swift should be singing IMAX’s praises. IMAX screens generated $13.1 million for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film on its opening weekend. IMAX, and other PLFs, totaled about 26% of the musical epic’s opening weekend. The Eras Tour also represented a rare female-focused opening for Imax—with 70% of the audience identifying as female. Most IMAX Blockbusters, including Dune Part Two and Godzilla x Kong, skew about 70% male.
What does this all mean? It’s hard to say right now. Perhaps contemporary speculations on the death of the movie theater experience are hyperbolic. As going to the theater becomes more and more expensive, and the general cost of living increases, regular movie theater visits may become less common. However, many still value the traditional theater experience, and might be willing to pay more for a premium experience on an exciting, fresh, spectacle film. Could upcoming blockbusters like Deadpool and Wolverine, Superman, The Mandalorian and Grogu, or Avatar 3 benefit from this change in consumer behavior? IMAX, and the entire movie theater industry, certainly hopes so.
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