We suggested on March 22 that watching Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on IMAX may be a great experience for moviegoers and it seems both fans and casual viewers took note of it well enough to give the company a huge boost in sales.
On April 21, IMAX Corporation revealed that its first quarter earnings for 2016 resulted in a sharp increase and the Zack Snyder-directed DC Superheroes film is one of the main driving forces for the successful quarter.
To be more specific, there were four big films responsible for the boost in sales and these are: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deadpool, Zootopia and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Official reports indicate that the first quarter revenue reached $92.1 million, which is 48.1 percent higher than the first quarter of 2015, and net income is at $9.5 million compared to 2015's $391,000. Seeing these numbers, you may well assume that it will also affect the company's stock price and your assumption is correct because it opened 5.5 percent higher after the official reports were released.
It is most likely only going to get better for the Toronto-based company because of promising box office hits like Disney and Marvel's Captain America: Civil War and Disney's Finding Dory, which are both slated for release in the second quarter, and The Jungle Book, which is also doing well in IMAX since its release on April 15.
We may also see an even bigger increase in revenue for the company since it has plans to release 44 digitally remastered films, plus there is The Legend of Tarzan and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to look forward to. Further expansion in other cinemas and territories like the second biggest film market, China, is also in the company's to-do list.
"The pace of Imax theater signings, installations and box office growth, both domestically and globally, continues to drive real momentum in the business [...] While there have been understandable concerns raised about the broader Chinese economy, the cinema as an affordable form of entertainment remains very strong, and on track to pass the U.S. by 2017," Imax Chief Executive Officer Richard Gelfond said.
