IMAX Signs Deals for Three New Theatre Systems With Kinomax, One With MORI Cinema
Box Office Success of IMAX® Theatres in Russia Continues, Driving Network Growth
AMSTERDAM, June 27, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the heels of continued Russian box office strength, IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) today announced that it has signed agreements with two new exhibitor partners in Russia, Kinomax and MORI Cinema, to open a combined total of four new digital IMAX theatres within new multiplexes. Russia and the CIS comprise IMAX's third-largest market, after the United States and China. This announcement brings the total number of IMAX theatres scheduled to be operating in the region to 45 by 2014.
Kinomax will open three new IMAX theatres. The first, in Astrakhan, is scheduled to open in late 2011, with the second and third, in Ryazan and Tomsk, set for late 2012. The MORI Cinema IMAX theatre is slated to open in March 2012 in Mytischi.
"Across Russia, consumers view The IMAX Experience® as the best way to see a movie," said Boris Asriev, General Director of Kinomax. "We believe that IMAX will raise our visibility with moviegoers, differentiate our offering from that of our competitors, and ultimately drive incremental revenues to our cinema complex."
"The demand for IMAX is very strong among moviegoers in Russia, and continues to grow," said Pavel Mori, General Director of MORI Cinema. "Associating our brand with the world-famous IMAX brand reinforces our mission to offer the highest quality entertainment experiences available to consumers."
"Russia and the CIS is one of our top-performing markets, and IMAX theatres in this region are seeing outstanding box office success," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "For the opening weekend of the latest installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, 15 international IMAX screens generated an average box office per screen of over $100,000, and eight of those screens were in Russia and the CIS. We're very happy to be forging new relationships with Russian exhibitors to continue the expansion of the IMAX network in this strategically important region."
IMAX's digital projection system delivers The IMAX Experience and helps drive profitability for studios, exhibitors and IMAX theatres by eliminating the need for film prints, increasing program flexibility and ultimately increasing the number of movies shown on IMAX screens. The system can run both IMAX and IMAX® 3D presentations.
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.
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).
The IMAX Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6469
This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on 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 the Company, 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 the Company'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 the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.