Imax Sees Quarterly Revenue Surge Led By ‘Oppenheimer’, Stock Pops

Imax swung to a profit and saw revenue revenue jump in the Septembers quarter, buoyed by Oppenheimer and other content from Hollywood to local language films, concert films, docs and live events.

The big screen exhibitor and tech company posted a net profit of $12 million versus a loss of $9 million the year earlier on revenue of $104 million, up 51%. It was the second highest grossing quarter of all time at the global Imax box office, the company said. Oppenheimer led with $180 million in Imax gross box office (20% of the total), followed by Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Local language titles were led by China’s Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms ($32.3 million), with strong contributions coming from No More Bets, Lost in the Stars, and Jawan. The remasterd and rereleased Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense, which premiered at TIFF, was the company’s highest grossing live event.

“IMAX financial results for the third quarter are spectacular by any measure — versus budget, versus our historical performance and in the context of a highly dynamic business environment for media and entertainment,” said CEO Richard Gelfond. “We are programming by far the strongest and most diverse content portfolio in our history — Hollywood blockbusters, local language films, marquee theatrical releases by streamers, concert films, docs, Live events – and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results across our global network.”

“Our outsized performance with Hollywood blockbusters coupled with the expansion of our successful local language strategy is fueling strong network growth around the world, with robust sales activity in China and North America as well as key growth markets across Europe and Southeast Asia.”