Imax fans turned up in droves to see “Dune 2” on the really big screen, helping the company top analyst earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2024.
Despite the sandworm bump, it was a tough compare with the year-ago period when Imax benefited from the blockbuster success of “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2023 to deliver its highest-grossing Q1 to date. Revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was $79.1 million, down 9% year over year, while net income was $3.3 million (an adjusted 15 cents per share), up 33%.
During the most recent quarter, Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” became one of the Top 10 Imax releases of all time. The Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi epic has garnered more than $143 million at the global box office to date on Imax screens — representing 21% of the film’s total gross receipts.
“Our industry-leading momentum is fueled in part by our strategic expansion of the Imax value proposition; increasingly, our technology is driving content creation as much as it is content delivery,” Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said in prepared remarks. “‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘Godzilla x Kong’ demonstrate that more and more of today’s commercially and critically successful blockbusters are shot with Imax cameras for the Imax platform — which drives our global box office and makes our systems even more of a ‘must have’ for global exhibitors.”
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The company’s global box office take of $261 million in the quarter marked Imax’s third highest grossing Q1. Imax captured 5.9% market share of the domestic box office in Q1, its biggest quarterly share ever in North America.
Overall, the company topped Wall Street analysts’ Q1 estimates for revenue of $76.86 million and adjusted earnings per share of 9 cents.
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Gelfond said the company currently has more films in production shooting with Imax cameras than at any point in its history, with “an unprecedented run of Filmed for Imax titles scheduled for 2025 — including every one of our releases slated for the critical summer blockbuster season.”
Meanwhile, Imax touted the performance of “Queen Rock Montreal,” the remastered 1981 concert film re-released in January. The pic earned more than $5.5 million at the box office and delivered the biggest opening weekend for an Imax-exclusive event release to date.
The incremental revenue from “Queen Rock Montreal,” together with solid box office receipts from “Dune: Part 2” and “Godzilla x Kong: New Empire,” lifted Imax’s Content Solutions segment revenue by 6% to $34 million in the first quarter.
Imax’s Technology Products and Services revenue decreased 16% to $43 million in the period, reflecting lower system renewals and mix of fewer sale-hybrid installations, according to the company.
Imax said it continues to drive expansion of its global network, delivering signings for new and upgraded systems in a diverse collection of markets to date in 2014, including China, India, Thailand and Turkey. During Q1 the company installed 15 systems compared with nine systems in the first quarter of 2023. Of those, five systems were under sales arrangements compared with eight systems in the prior year.
As of March 31, 2024, there were 1,772 Imax systems (1,697 commercial multiplexes, 12 commercial destinations and 63 institutional locations) operating in 89 countries and territories. That’s an increase of 4% from 1,711a year earlier.
