Overseas Expansion Of IMAX Movie Theaters Signals Growth, Strength Of Film Industry

The act of “going to the movies” is far removed from what the outing entailed 80 years ago. Sure, ticket prices have increased - but so have movie production standards and overall quality. While audiences of that era wanted to see the big names of the day taking on new roles, today we have movie stars backed up by computer-generated magic. Today’s technology is truly stunning and can really convince us, as we sit in a dark movie theater looking for an escape from the mundane, that what we’re seeing was really filmed on location. The IMAX film system is just one of the many movie industry improvements made over the past few decades, and its crowd-pleaser status might explain why 40 of the theaters are coming to China.

According to screendaily.com, which is the digital arm of Screen International, IMAX and cinema chain Jiangsu Omnijoi have entered into an agreement to build the aforementioned theaters where the high-resolution large format films are screened. What’s more, the 40 new theaters bring the total count of IMAX systems to 72.

“As one of the fastest-growing cinema developers in China, Omnijoi Cinemas is determined to deliver moviegoers premier entertainment experiences, and we are delighted to expand our partnership at such a significant level,” IMAX head Richard L. Gelfond told screendaily.com. IMAX films were developed in the 1960s and 1970s are theaters for the movies topped 1,100 across 69 countries.

The expansion of the awe-inducing IMAX theater setting comes as no surprise to Ivanhoe Pictures. The Los Angeles-based film production company, which also has offices in Beijing and New York City, has been paying close attention to the movie industry in China. Given the multi-million dollar overseas earnings there of U.S. franchises such as “Resident Evil,” “Fate of the Furious,” and “xXx,” it’s no surprise that other film-related industries such as IMAX are growing in China.

Ivanhoe Pictures, which works to produce film and television shows both in the U.S. and overseas, is no stranger to box office hits: with Fox International Pictures, Ivanhoe produced director Na Hong-Jin’s “The Wailing,” which was Fox’s second largest-grossing film to date in South Korea, at $50 million U.S. dollars.