'The Odyssey' is cleaning up for IMAX. Expect the momentum to continue

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is racking up box office dollars for IMAX and fueling investor confidence that the company will reach record ticket sales in 2026.

Shares of IMAX jumped more than 8% on Thursday after the company reported it was still on track to deliver a record $1.4 billion in global box office this year. Wall Street had worried that when Netflix and Greta Gerwig's "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" was pushed from its November release date to February 2027, that IMAX would not be able to reach that guidance.

Universal's "The Odyssey" is easing those fears. Over its opening weekend, the film generated $52 million in global box office for IMAX. The company's locations represented less than 1% of total screens but a whopping 20% of the film's worldwide debut.

"The Odyssey" opening was 47% higher than Nolan's previous film "Oppenheimer." The biopic hauled in more than $190 million via IMAX throughout its run in 2023.

And momentum for "The Odyssey" has showed few signs of slowing. The film secured another $11 million on Monday and $10.6 million on Tuesday — the best Tuesday performance of all time for the company, according to IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond, who spoke to investors on an earnings call Thursday.

"Our presales for the second weekend would qualify on its own as one of our biggest opening weekends ever," he said. "These numbers help prove that we're just getting warmed up."

Still to come to global IMAX screens this year is Sony and Marvel's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day;" Zach Cregger's take on "Resident Evil;" Tom Cruise's newest feature "Digger;" "Godzilla Minus One;" David Fincher's "The Adventures of Cliff Booth," which stars Brad Pitt and is based on Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood;" and Paramount's "Street Fighter."

Then Warner Bros. and Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three" will cap off the year. The first Dune film generated $61 million in IMAX theaters during the tail end of the pandemic and "Dune: Part Two" secured $147 million globally.

"Our momentum continues to translate into demand from our exhibition partners," Gelfond said.

The company installed 38 IMAX systems globally during the second quarter, up from 36 during the same period a year prior. This is the highest number of installations in the second quarter in a decade, Natasha Fernandes, IMAX's chief financial officer, told investors during Thursday's earnings call. Nineteen systems were installed in the first quarter and the company is on pace to have 160 to 175 installations by the end of 2026.

IMAX currently has a backlog of 421 contracts to build screens.

"We continue to see tremendous runway for our global expansion, and we continue to innovate in ways that make IMAX even more valuable to creators, studios, exhibitors and audiences alike," Gelfond said. "This is an incredibly exciting time for our business."

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