Cinemas weigh launching new large screen brand to challenge Imax

Business Times

18-07-2025

[LOS ANGELES] Some of the largest US theatre chains, including Cinemark, Regal and Marcus, have held preliminary talks about jointly marketing their big-screen theatres to blunt the growing influence of Imax within the movie industry and the public, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The talks so far have focused on setting shared standards for the chains' 'premium large-format' theatres to better compete with Imax's giant screens, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The chains have a number of options, the sources said. One is to unite around a new brand name for their premium format. Another would be to keep their premium brands and add an industrywide designation that would act as a stamp of approval for their locations. It's also possible they do nothing and maintain their current ties with Imax.
Some chains are alarmed by the growing presence of Imax in Hollywood advertising, including posters in their own lobbies that feature the brand as prominently as movie titles. Imax licenses its technology to theatres and has about 372 US locations, a fraction of the screens nationwide. Yet it consistently generates more than 10 per cent of the box office for blockbusters.
Displacing Imax would be a tall order: The company has spent half a century refining its technology and building its brand. It has attracted marquee filmmakers, including Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, Dune director Denis Villeneuve and Sinners director Ryan Coogler, to shoot their films using Imax cameras.
'We view this as a sign of Imax's growing influence rather than a threat,' Benchmark Equity analyst Mike Hickey, who recommends buying the shares, wrote in a note to investors on Thursday. 'Imax continues to outperform with unmatched brand equity, strong filmmaker loyalty and premium economics that benefit exhibitors, particularly through incremental high-margin concession sales.'
On Thursday at midnight in New York, Imax began selling tickets to Nolan's epic The Odyssey, one-year in advance. The screenings are for the 70-millimetre print, Nolan's preferred format and one favoured by cinephiles. Some locations, including Hollywood's iconic Chinese Theatre, were already almost completely sold out.
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There could be financial benefits for theatres in banding together, including less money going to Imax for licensing its technology, the sources said. The chains have also discussed among themselves the possibility of asking studios to help market any new brand they might adopt.
Representatives of Cinemark Holdings, Marcus, Regal Cineworld and Imax all declined to comment. AMC Entertainment Holdings, the largest chain and biggest operator of Imax screens in the US, is not participating in the deliberations, according to the sources.
Talks among the top movie-theatre chains 'won't blunt Imax's box-office market share, we believe, as the company's premium large format is gaining popularity with filmmakers and studios,' Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kevin Near and Geetha Ranganathan wrote in a note. 'At close to 1 per cent of total movie screens, Imax's opportunity remains large.'
Movie theatres have invested in big-screen names of their own that do not use Imax technology. Imax said last quarter that its big-screen footprint is double the size of its nearest competitor.
Cinemark's company-branded big screens are called XD, while Regal's are dubbed RPX and Marcus' UltraScreen and SuperScreen. They are typically 70 feet wide, or more, and taller than those found at traditional theatres. Some come with premium sound systems and seats that move. They resonate with fans, who will often pay 30 per cent more for seats.
Also driving the push for change is the sluggish recovery of the theatre industry following the Covid-19 pandemic and labour strife in Hollywood that cut the supply of new films. Ticket sales nationally remain well below the pre-Covid peak.
Despite those troubles, Imax is set to score its best year for box-office revenue in 2025 on the back of movie marketing campaigns that carry taglines such as 'Filmed For Imax'.
Cinema owners who do not have Imax screens have bristled at receiving film posters from major Hollywood studios with taglines such as 'See it in Imax,' the sources said.
Another source of tension is the deal that Imax struck to release Netflix Inc.'s film based on CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia in late 2026, the sources said. The Greta Gerwig-directed film will run for two weeks exclusively on Imax screens before being released on the streaming service.
Some theatre owners are in revolt because Netflix has largely shunned theatrical releases. Its co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos has criticised theatres as an inefficient distribution model. Speaking at an industry event earlier this year, Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna would not commit to playing the Narnia movie in his theatres even though his circuit operates Imax screens, arguing that two weeks is too short a period to draw a significant number of moviegoers.
And earlier this month, Tim Richards, CEO of Vue Entertainment, Europe's largest independent cinema chain, debuted a large-screen format called Epic, in part due to Imax's deal with Netflix.
In a May interview with the New York Times, Adam Aron, chief executive officer of AMC, said his circuit will screen Narnia to support Imax. BLOOMBERG