IMAX Posts Record Q3 as The Odyssey Drives $712M Global Box Office

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey carried IMAX Corporation to the strongest quarter in its history, with third-quarter revenue up 64% to $174.6 million and global IMAX box office reaching a record $712 million, the company said Thursday in its earnings release.

• Revenue: $174.6 million, versus $106.7 million a year earlier
• Net income: $117.1 million; $1.96 per diluted share, versus 37 cents
• Adjusted EPS: $2.21, versus 47 cents a year earlier
• Adjusted EBITDA: $120.9 million, a record 69.3% margin
• Global IMAX box office: $712 million, up 94% from a year earlier

TheWrap reported that Wall Street had projected about $154 million in quarterly revenue. Deadline said the shares rose about 4% in early trading Thursday. Net income included a $36.7 million release of a valuation allowance on Canadian deferred tax assets, equal to 63 cents per diluted share, according to the company.

The Odyssey’s record IMAX run

The Odyssey, the first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, generated $538 million in IMAX box office during the quarter and more than $550 million worldwide to date, making it the highest-grossing IMAX release ever and accounting for more than 30% of the film’s global gross, IMAX said. Spider-Man: Brand New Day added $58 million. IMAX said it took 6.7% of the industry’s third-quarter global box office while operating less than 1% of the world’s screens.

Content Solutions revenue more than doubled, up 110% to $94 million. Technology Products and Services revenue rose 28% to $77 million on higher rental income. IMAX installed 32 systems in the quarter, down from 38 a year earlier, and ended September with 1,820 commercial multiplex systems and a backlog of 409.

Dune: Part Three and 2027 slate

IMAX now expects to significantly exceed its earlier 2026 target of a record $1.4 billion in global box office, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported. The company said it has signed agreements for more than 100 systems so far this year, 65% of them at new locations. The Hollywood Reporter said Dune: Part Three, due in December, has drawn $30 million in IMAX pre-sales, the company’s second-highest on record.

Chief Financial Officer Natasha Fernandes told analysts the results “demonstrate the significant operating leverage and opportunity as we further expand the network and grow Imax box office,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. IMAX ended the quarter with $641 million in available liquidity.

The quarter’s box office surge also lifted AMC Entertainment’s record third-quarter revenue.

Sources: IMAX Corporation (company release), Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap