IMAX and Wanda will complete the construction of 150 theaters in four years, increasing the number of theaters to be built by 60%

On August 2, IMAX and Wanda Theater announced the signing of an agreement to build 150 new IMAX theaters in Wanda Theater. According to the agreement: Starting next year, these cinemas will be built and distributed across China within six years, and 110 of them will be installed before the end of 2020. At the same time, the number of theaters contracted by IMAX China to be built will increase by nearly 60%.

On the evening of August 2, IMAX Corporation, IMAX China Holding Inc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "IMAX") and Wanda Cinema Line Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Wanda Cinema Line") announced the signing of an agreement to build 150 new IMAX theaters in Wanda Cinema Line. According to the agreement: Starting next year, these cinemas will be built and distributed across China within six years, and 110 of them will be installed before the end of 2020.

The agreement is expected to increase the number of IMAX theaters under Wanda by more than 70% to 360, most of which will open in the next three years and plans to open all contracted theaters by 2022. At the same time, the number of theaters contracted by IMAX China to be built will increase by nearly 60%.

In fact, the agreement was based on the signing of a contract between the two companies in 2013. According to the agreement that year, Wanda will build 120 new IMAX theaters by 2020. However, Wanda currently expects that the project will be installed before the end of 2016, four years earlier than expected. The main terms of the new agreement are highly similar to those of the 2013 agreement.

While IMAX theaters are surging, starting from the end of 2018, nearly half of the new IMAX theaters in Wanda theaters may begin to be equipped with the latest laser projection technology. Previously, the first IMAX theater in the mainland with a laser projection system was Wanda Cinema in Dongguan. Compared with the current 2K resolution of digital IMAX cinemas, the laser projection system uses dual 4K projectors to ensure higher brightness, contrast and picture sharpness.

This has always been an advantage of the IMAX screen. When "Avatar" was released in early 2010, China audiences felt the visual shock brought by IMAX 3D for the first time. Long queues formed in front of IMAX theaters across the country, setting a record in the history of China's box office. In total, only 14 screens of IMAX contributed 11.4% of the mainland box office. By the time "Warcraft" was released this year, the first day of the IMAX screen revenue of 35 million yuan has once again broken the record. Based on the film's national box office of 277 million yuan (including zero spots) that day, IMAX contributed 12.6% of it.

Globally, as of the first half of this year, China accounted for nearly one-third of IMAX's global box office revenue. At the same time, IMAX already has 335 theaters in Greater China, including 306 in the mainland.

In recent years, IMAX has focused its development on the China market. Coupled with the agreement signed this time, IMAX has signed 284 theaters so far this year, including 229 theaters in China, surpassing IMAX's previous global record of 277 theaters for the whole year.

According to the financial report released by IMAX China, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in the first half of 2016, due to the growth in the number of newly installed theaters and the theater network, the company achieved total revenue of US$55.061 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%; during the period, it achieved a profit of US$17.742 million, a year-on-year increase of 126.1%, turning a profit into a profit compared with the same period last year.

However, in sharp contrast, China's film market experienced a slowdown in growth in the first half of the year. In July, the national box office fell for the first time in the same period, with a drop of 18.2%. In this regard, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond expressed no concern in an interview with Interface Reporters: "We are extremely confident in the box office in China, even if there is a slight difference in each quarter of the year."

Gelfang said: Taking the second quarter of last year as an example, due to blockbusters such as "Jurassic World" and "Avengers 2", the box office performance in that quarter was very good. Moreover, just looking at June this year, especially the IMAX box office, the performance was also very good due to the boost from "Warcraft". In July, although the box office of Chinese-language films was sluggish, we should not let short-term box office fluctuations disrupt our long-term optimistic judgment on the China market.

Combined with data from last year and the first half of this year, the number of cinemas in mainland China has reached 7038, and the number of screens is 35252, maintaining an average growth rate of 20 per day. There are huge differences between different types of screens. Among them, IMAX, IMAX 3D, China Giant Screen and China Giant Screen 3D generated revenue of 358 million, 1.651 billion, 80 million and 169 million yuan respectively last year. IMAX's advantages are quite obvious.

Regarding Dolby Cinema, which recently opened its first movie theater in China, Gelfong said that IMAX is not afraid of competition. He believes that IMAX, with top film technology, can provide audiences with the best movie-viewing experience. This brand influence also allows them to maintain good relations with producers and theaters.

In order to fill IMAX format films, IMAX China is cooperating with more and more Chinese films. Including "Journey to the West: The Monkey King Three Beats the Bone Bones" and "Kung Fu Panda 3" released earlier this year, IMAX is expected to show 8-10 Chinese-language films in 2016. IMAX films that have already been released during the summer season include "The Quick Shooter","Chills 2","Escape from the Jedi" and the upcoming "Tomb Robbing Notes".

In addition, IMAX China also plans to cooperate with "The Great Wall" directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, which will be released during this year's New Year holiday. It will also establish a film production fund with CMC to jointly invest in 15 Chinese-language films in the next three years.

Editor: vian