IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures Hit $400 Million Box Office Milestone

http://www.imax.com/corporate/content/investor/intro.jsp

 

April 24, 2008

 

Studio's Movies Presented in IMAX a Hit with Moviegoers

 

Partnership Helped Shape New Distribution Platform for Event Movies

 

LOS ANGELES, April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that they have crossed the $400 million mark at the IMAX box office with films released through the partnership between the two companies. Since June 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures has released 16 titles in IMAX's format, five of which were in IMAX(R) 3D, including two live action pictures that were partially converted into 3D with IMAX's proprietary 2D to 3D conversion technology. All titles were digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R) using IMAX's proprietary IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-Mastering) technology. Also included in the tally are the studio's two original IMAX 3D co-productions.

 

"Our successful partnership with IMAX has helped to shape an entirely new distribution window and a completely new form of premium cinematic entertainment," said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures. "The IMAX(R) theatre network has enabled us to generate incremental box office returns, and we are very enthusiastic about our upcoming film slate, which will include both original IMAX 3D programming and our tent-pole releases."

 

"The IMAX release adds a layer of excitement to major titles, and with more audiences looking for something special at the movies, we anticipate continued strong box office returns from these theatres internationally," said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

 

"Warner Bros. Pictures' dedication to the IMAX film business, their talent for making great films and their enthusiastic endorsement of IMAX DMR and original programming has enabled our partnership to reach this impressive milestone," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "With our digital projection system on the verge of rapidly expanding the IMAX network worldwide, we are confident that we'll reach many more milestones with Warner Bros. Pictures."

 

The studio's Hollywood IMAX releases that contributed to the $400 million milestone and helped shape the IMAX network as a new distribution platform include The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Polar Express (in IMAX 3D), Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, V for Vendetta, Poseidon, Superman Returns (in IMAX 3D), The Ant Bully (in IMAX 3D), Happy Feet, 300, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in IMAX 3D), Beowulf (international) and I Am Legend.

 

The original IMAX 3D films co-produced and released with Warner Bros. Pictures include NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience (2003), which has grossed nearly $24 million at the IMAX box office, and Deep Sea 3D (2006), which has grossed an impressive $64 million at the IMAX box office on a limited number of screens, and it is still playing well throughout the IMAX network.

 

"Warner Bros. Pictures has been instrumental in bringing The IMAX Experience into mainstream," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "They were the first studio to release a feature film in IMAX 3D, the first studio to release a live action film that had been converted into 3D, and they introduced the world to a whole new brand of original IMAX 3D programming that is both educational and entertaining. We look forward to continued success with them and their incredible filmmakers as we collaborate in the release of a broad range of pictures over the next few years."

 

The 2008, 2009 and 2010 lineup for Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX currently include Speed Racer (May 9), The Dark Night (July 18), Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (November 21), Under the Sea 3D (February 2009) and Hubble 3D (February 2010).