UPDATED with CEO comments: “Imax is, quite simply, a different company than it was just a few years ago. This quarter is the latest — and maybe the clearest — example yet of how far we’ve come,” said CEO Rich Geldfond as Imax posted a massive jump in global box office that drove strong third quarter earnings.
He cited a diversified portfolio of films and the strong and growing expansion of Imax screens that follows box office success.
“In prior years, when Imax posted big results, you could usually point to a single defining title — Avatar, Top Gun, Oppenheimer. But now, our performance is increasingly driven by the full breadth of our content strategy,” he said on a call with analysts after the latest numbers.
To drive the point home, it’s hosting its first in-person Investor Day since 2017 in L.A. in December.
Gelfond has been touting the shift since moviegoing habits started to change post-Covid and premium experiences helped pull people into theaters. Wall Street is now pretty much on board. The stock popped 4% on the latest numbers that saw Imax global box office grosses jump by nearly 50% from the year before. Shares, now trading at about $33, are well up from a 52-week low of under $20.
Even with the domestic box office down 11% year over year for the three months, Imax rose 29% in North America. Gelfond ticked off Hollywood hit F1 — for which the format dramatically over-indexed – to powerhouse Japanese language release Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. The anime hit delivered Imax’s biggest September opening ever in North America, which Gelfond called “an astounding feat for a foreign film” and is now the circuit’s highest ever grossing domestic foreign language film and its highest grossing title in Japan. He’s optimistic it will secure release in China, where recent Japanese anime titles including First Slam Dunk and Suzume have played well.
He also noted music events Prince and The Grateful Dead, strong horror openings in The Conjuring and Weapons, and legacy titles like the re-release of Jaws.
November will feature two Imax-friendly releases in Predator: Badlands and The Running Man and Thanksgiving slate Zootopia 2 and Wicked For Good. December will see the re-release of 1991 concert film Stones at the Max. The year rounds out with Avatar: Fire and Ash and he said Imax has been working with Disney for a year on that launch.
Along with carryover for Avatar, some 2026 slate highlights include Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Greta Gerwig’s Imax-exclusive Narnia in a deal with Netflix, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5 and Dune: Part Three, which will have an Imax 70mm run in select locations.
PREVIOUSLY: Imax global box office grosses jumped by nearly 50% in the September quarter from the year before to $368 million driven by a mix of Hollywood and local language films and alternative events. Highlights included Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and a return to theaters of the circuit’s highest grossing Hollywood release of 2025, F1: The Movie.
Revenue rose 10% to $106.7 million and profit surged 67% to $22.6 million for the quarter, ahead of Wall Street forecasts. Cash flow was $67.5 million. Shares are up nearly 3% in early trading.
Imax delivered 4.2% of the global box office, an increase of 49% year-over-year. Over 20 local language titles featured breakout anime hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – Imax’s highest grossing title in Japan and highest grossing domestic foreign language film.
Filmed for Imax releases including Superman, Dongji Rescue and Fantastic Four: First Steps, as well as F1 — the company’s highest grossing Hollywood release of the year. In Q3, while domestic box office declined 11% year-on-year, Imax was up 29%.
Alternative content ranged from The Grateful Dead Movie, David Gilmour Concert and Prince Sign O’ the Times) to Hollywood re-releases of Jaws, Apollo 13 and Black Swan and live-streamed events Dead & Company and Spinal Tap II.
“In prior years, when IMAX posted big results, you could usually point to a single defining title — Avatar, Top Gun, Oppenheimer. But now, our performance is increasingly driven by the full breadth of our content strategy,” said Gelfond. “IMAX is, quite simply, a different company than it was just a few years ago.” To fully illustrate the shift, Imax is hosting its first Investor Day since 2017 in December.
The company “has never been better positioned creatively, commercially, or strategically,” he added and “we continue to believe the best is yet to come, with no less than four massive tentpoles expected in 2026 – The Odyssey, Narnia, Dune Part Three and The Mandalorian and Grogu — for which IMAX is a central component of the filmmaking, marketing, and distribution.”
Warner Bros. hit horror film Sinners will be back on the giant screens soon for a Halloween weekend reprise. The company reiterated its full-year 2025 guidance of $1.2 billion in global box office.
Box office flows led to content revenue of $44.8 million, up 49% year-over-year. Technology Products and Services, reflecting sales of new Imax systems, rose 4% to $60.4 million. System installations pacing to high-end of full year guidance (150 to 160) and signings of 142 year-to-date have eclipsed full-year 2024 (130).