Christopher Nolan deserves a really nice fruit basket.
The director’s latest blockbuster, “Oppenheimer,” was shot with Imax cameras, something that Nolan talked up during the film’s press tour last summer. That advocacy contributed to $180 million in global ticket sales for Imax venues, lifting the big screen company’s latest earnings results. Overall, Imax’s revenues jumped 51% during the most recent quarter to $103.9 million. Gross margins increased 98% to $62.7 million, while adjusted earnings per share increased to 35 cents. That beat Wall Street’s projections.
“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 Richard Gelfond, CEO of Imax. “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.”
As Gelfond notes, it wasn’t just Nolan. Local language releases such as“Creation of the Gods 1: Kingdom of Storms” and “No More Bets” in China, and “Jawan” in India, also over-performed. These were complimented by Hollywood fare that may have been relative box office disappointments, but did solid business on Imax screens such as “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The quarter was Imax’s second highest-grossing quarter of all time at the global box office.
The actors and writers strikes have prompted several studios to delay major upcoming releases, but Gelfond sounded optimistic about the fall and winter, noting the performance of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” He also expressed excitement for the December debut of a concert film tied to Beyonce’s “Renaissance” tour. “The emergence of concert films — a genre uniquely suited to Imax sight, sound and live capability — only strengthens our hand,” Gelfond said during the earnings call.
During the three-month period ending in September, Imax increased its footprint, installing 30 systems compared to 17 systems in the third quarter of 2022. Shares of Imax rose more than 3% in pre-market trading on the strong earnings results.
