Imax Corp. plans to almost triple its number of cinemas in Japan by 2024, betting on a strong rebound from the coronavirus pandemic in the world’s third-largest movie market by box office.
The jumbo-screen operator is targeting an expansion to 100 theaters — including those that are operating and others still scheduled to open — from 39 now, Chief Executive Officer Richard Gelfond said in an interview ahead of first-quarter results Thursday. Imax has also renewed an agreement with Toho Co. to release five more of the studio’s films, with titles to be confirmed later, Gelfond said. Their initial slate deal for five movies was Imax’s first outside of Hollywood.
Japan has generally been a bright spot for Imax during the COVID-19 crisis, last week becoming its second-largest market after China this year with $14 million (¥1.52 billion) in ticket sales, 11% of the company’s global total. Japan has collected an average box office gross of $1.2 million a screen for Imax during the pandemic, the highest among all markets, according to Gelfond.