Megascreen theater company IMAX Corp is hoping Harry Potter’s magic touch will help catapult the company itself into a global smash hit.
Like Hollywood’s movie studios, IMAX is increasingly banking its future on countries outside North America. And Asia plays a leading role in the company’s aggressive expansion plans.
The region is “crucial” for IMAX, said Larry O’Reilly, executive vice president for theater development.
“While the domestic release is important, the international release is even more important because when you have big franchise films like Harry Potter, they make more money internationally than they do in the domestic market,” O’Reilly said in an interview on Monday.
O’Reilly traveled to Tokyo this week to promote Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, premiering today globally and at the three commercial IMAX screens that debuted in Japan this year.
Operated as a joint venture with Tokyu Recreation, the three locations are off to a bullish start. The first featured film, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, has grossed ¥54 million (US$585,000) as of Saturday, he said.
“For us, big growth opportunities are here in Japan,” O’Reilly said, noting that the country is the world’s No. 2 moviegoing market. “We think it’ll be very reasonable to have 25 to 30 theaters in the not-too-distance future.”
Worldwide, the Canadian company operated 371 IMAX theaters at the end of the first quarter. Of those, it counted 250 commercial theaters, a 40 percent jump from the previous year.
It aims to build 1,000 commercial theaters within five to 10 years, O’Reilly said.
The goal represents a major evolution from its former self, known primarily for its educational offerings in science centers and museums. The company introduced technology in 2002 that enabled standard 35mm movies to be digitally converted for its large-format cinemas at a reasonable cost.
It now sees itself as an innovative platform for studios seeking to lure increasingly fickle customers.
“The moviegoing experience is changing dramatically, and we think we’re playing our small role in making that actually happen,” O’Reilly said.
An IMAX screen is like high-definition TV for a movie theater. They can be anywhere from 12m high such as on 42nd Street in New York to eight-story tall screens in London and Sydney. As many as 700 people can fit in a single cinema.
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