As major cinema chains slump on reduced 2025 attendance, Imax is reporting a surge in global box office during its fourth quarter from a mix of Hollywood tentpoles like Avatar: Fire and Ash, local language titles and alternative programming.
On Wednesday, the film technologies company also revealed its gross box office during the three months to Dec. 31, 2025 jumped 62 percent to $336.2 million, which was up 16 percent from a previous Q4 record. Stock in Imax rose by $2.48, or nearly 7 percent, to $39.00 in after-hours market trading.
Imax is looking to increased contributions from Hollywood blockbusters shot with its proprietary cameras and local-language films to drive what it touts as a Big Bang moment for the company in 2026. “Our slate for 2026 is arguably the strongest we’ve ever seen, with a record of at least 12 Filmed For Imax releases worldwide; a highly anticipated offering of family films in a time where we’re growing market share with family audiences; and more international blockbusters than ever,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond stated.
The Imax chief added, “The year is highlighted by huge, Imax-centric tentpoles — including Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the first theatrical feature shot entirely with Imax film cameras; and Filmed For Imax releases including Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, and Greta Gerwig’s Narnia — and our strong slates for 2027 and 2028 continue to come into view.”
During an after-market analyst call, Gelfond in prepared remarks forecast Imax will continue to grab a bigger share of the global box office this year and next as a provider of premium theatrical screens and technologies to distinguish itself from the broader exhibition industry.
“In sum, 2025 was a transformational, record-breaking year for Imax. We exceeded our targets for financial performance and finished with a strong fourth quarter. We drove great results for our exhibition partners, breaking box office records as fans, filmmakers and studios clamor for more of The Imax Experience. We continued network expansion with significant runway to grow further, even as we capture a record share of the global box office. In every way, we have leveled up our performance,” Gelfond argued.
On Wednesday, Imax said it posted Q4 revenue up 35 percent to $125.2 million, compared to $92.7 million in the year-ago period. That beat an analyst forecast for revenue of $120.12 million. Net income fell 64 percent to $2.5 million, compared to a year-earlier $6.9 million.
During the latest quarter, Imax recorded a one-time charge of $15 million to repurchase convertible notes due 2026, and a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $7 million for SSIMWAVE, a streaming tech company acquired in 2022. The adjusted earnings per-share hit 58 cents, against a year-earlier 27 cents.
Also during the fourth quarter, content solutions revenue rose 50 percent to $38.2 million, against a year-earlier $25.5 million, underpinned by the strong box office growth anchored by end-year Hollywood tentpoles. The technology products and services revenue was up 32 percent to $84.6 million, compared to $64 million in the same period of 2024, on increased theater system sale arrangements.
Imax earlier said its worldwide theater network helped the company post $1.28 billion in global box office for 2025, a new company record. That surpassed Imax’s previous highwater mark of $1.1 billion in global box office for 2019, and the company now expects $1.4 billion in global box office for 2026.
During the after-market call, CEO Gelfond discussed why Imax China posted $28 million in box office over the latest Lunar New Year seven-day period, which was down on a record high of $53 million in box office over China’s Lunar New Year period in Feb. 2025. He said some local language Chinese titles were delayed to summer 2026 releases. “The result is more a matter of timing than it’s the result of any trends in the Chinese box office,” he said.
Back in the domestic market, Gelfond said a strong 2026 Hollywood film slate should allow major exhibitors to increase ticket prices for select Hollywood tentpoles on premium screens later this year. “There are definitely instances where I think you could push the price higher. And if we ran theaters, we would certainly do that,” he insisted.
Gelfond added Hollywood studios have an “elevated” demand for Imax screens, especially as major directors are opting to shoot their latest movies with Imax digital cameras. That includes F1 director Joseph Kosinski getting set to direct a Miami Vice reboot for Universal entirely in the Imax big screen format, and Ryan Coogler shooting his Oscar front-runner Sinners in both Imax 70mm and Ultra Panavision 70mm.
And after Imax unveiled a partnership with Apple TV to show live Formula One races from Miami to Monza screen in 50 locations nationwide later this year, Gelfond said his company was exploring with other international distributors potential deals to bring live F1 races live elsewhere in its global theater network.
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