NEW YORK and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., July 14, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) today announced that under a previously agreed-upon arrangement, the companies will expand their joint revenue sharing arrangement to install an additional nine IMAX® theatres in the United States, bringing the number of theatres under the agreement to 25 from 16. Locations for these nine additional theatres have now been identified, with the parties working to finalize all necessary theatre approvals.
This expansion fulfills the theatre roll-out as contemplated in the parties' joint revenue sharing agreement amendment announced in October 2010. The nine new locations will bring the total number of Regal's confirmed IMAX theatres to 77.
"Through the success of our existing joint revenue sharing theatres - our patrons have spoken and IMAX is certainly a hit among our moviegoers," says Amy Miles, CEO of Regal Entertainment Group. "It gives us great pleasure to expand our partnership with IMAX and deliver on our shared vision to offer more audiences the highest quality moviegoing experience available."
"Today's announcement not only demonstrates that the IMAX business delivers results for our exhibitor partners but that the opportunity for network growth domestically remains strong," said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO, IMAX Corporation. "Regal is the largest exhibitor in the U.S. and we are proud of our relationship with them. They understand the IMAX brand and are a key driver of our strategy to further penetrate the domestic small-to-mid-tier market."
About Regal Entertainment Group
Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) is the largest motion picture exhibitor in the United States. The Company's theatre circuit, comprising Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatres and Edwards Theatres, operates 6,657 screens in 535 locations in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Regal operates theatres in 43 of the top 50 U.S. designated market areas. We believe that the size, reach and quality of the Company's theatre circuit not only provide its patrons with a convenient and enjoyable movie-going experience, but is also an exceptional platform to realize economies of scale in theatre operations. Additional information is available on the Company's Web site at http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http://www.REGmovies.com&esheet=6754026&lan=en-US&anchor=www.REGmovies.com&index=3&md5=32626d9fdb904e9a9afbb0770cb1ffc1">www.REGmovies.com.
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry's top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company's new digital projection and sound systems - combined with a growing blockbuster film slate - are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX theatres deliver the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo and Shanghai. As of March 31, 2011, there were 528 IMAX theatres (408 commercial, 120 institutional) operating in 46 countries.
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IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience® and The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/imaxmovies">www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).
This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by IMAX, the performance of IMAX DMR films, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions, foreign currency fluctuations and IMAX's prior restatements and the related litigation and investigation by the SEC and the ongoing inquiry by the OSC. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.