Globally, IMAX achieved its second-highest earnings in a year in 2023, with $1.06 billion in box-office collections.
“2023 was our best year at the Indian box office, with collections up 68% compared to 2019,” Giovanni Dolci, global chief sales officer, IMAX Corporation, told ET.
He said the 2023 box-office collections should be compared with the 2019 numbers since 2020, 2021 and 2022 were abnormal years for the exhibition industry owing to the Covid-19 pandemic-related disruptions.
IMAX’s box-office collections for Indian titles amounted to $6.46 million out of a total of $23.1 million, he said, adding that the company helped Indian films collect $15.74 million in global box-office receipts.
In 2023, Oppenheimer, Avatar: The Way of Water, Jawan, Pathaan and Mission Impossible 7: Dear Reckoning Part 1 were the top five grossing films for IMAX in India, with collections of $6.1 million, $1.8 million, $1.6 million, $1.5 million and $1.2 million respectively.Oppenheimer and Avatar: The Way of Water became the highest-grossing films in India so far for IMAX. Among the Indian films, K.G.F. Chapter 2 continues to be the top grosser, with collections of $1.7 million, followed by Jawan ($1.6 million) and Pathaan ($1.5 million) respectively.IMAX sees huge potential in India, the company’s eighth-largest growth market in terms of box-office receipts. “We intend to continue on this growth path, and we see 2024 as another key year to enable this growth,” said Dolci.
In 2023, IMAX expanded its network by launching six screens and is awaiting licence approvals to install an additional nine screens. “We increased our network by over 42% in just one year and that shows the appetite that the company has for India,” he said.
IMAX has set a target of launching 100 screens in India by 2025, up from 27 at present, and plans to expand IMAX screens in emerging cities, provided the locations are suitable.
Dolci said IMAX is not just strengthening alliances with major cinema chains such as PVR Inox and Cinepolis but is also in discussions with other exhibitors interested in investing in IMAX technology.
The company also plans to increase content throughput by collaborating with local producers, filmmakers and distributors to release more Indian titles on the IMAX platform, he said.
“We released eight Indian films across languages last year; our objective is to release more than eight in 2024,” Dolci said.
The company’s slate includes 30 international and Indian films in 2024. IMAX has two Indian films scheduled for release in January, including the Hrithik Roshan film Fighter, which will be released on January 25, and the Tamil action-adventure Captain Miller, which was released on January 12.
