Imax released its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday and posted higher net earnings on rising overall revenues.
That came as tentpoles like Gladiator II, Venom: The Last Dance and Mufasa: The Lion King performed best on its screens during the latest financial period. A year earlier, Imax had Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Wonka on the cinema technology company’s big screen network.
Overall fourth-quarter revenue came to $92.7 million, up 8 percent from a year-earlier $86 million. Amid a box office recovery for Hollywood coming out of the pandemic, Imax is looking to leverage increasing demand for new and upgraded theater systems worldwide.
The large-format exhibitor recorded net income of $5.2 million, which compared to a profit of $2.5 million in the same period last year. During the latest quarter, the adjusted per-share profit in Q4 came to 27 cents, a sharp improvement from year-earlier per-share profit of 11 cents.
For full-year 2024, Imax reported installing 146 new and upgraded Imax systems worldwide, at the high end of earlier guidance of 120 to 150 systems. In 2025, Imax said it expects to deliver a record box office of more than $1.2 billion and system installations of 145 to 160.
“In 2024, Imax further strengthened its position at the center of global entertainment, expanding the roster of filmmakers working with our technology, strengthening our studio marketing, hitting the high-end of our installation guidance, and innovating to expand our programming – including our deal with Netflix for the release of Greta Gerwig’s Narnia across the Imax global network in advance of its debut on the service,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said in a statement after the release of the fourth quarter financial results.
During a post-market analyst call, Gelfond discussed a partnership between Imax and Netflix for a global release of Greta Gerwig’s Narnia two weeks ahead of the film’s streaming debut on the streaming giant in late 2026. He argued Imax had secured a four week window “for a film that otherwise would have gone straight to streaming,” as Netflix, which only sparingly embraces theatrical releases, has recognized the ability of Imax to create events around blockbuster movies, Gelfond added.
As part of the agreement, Imax has a four-week window for the film before the Netflix debut, but the film technologies company for now is committed to playing Narnia exclusively for two weeks starting on Thanksgiving Day 2026. Gelfond said hammering out the Narnia deal was time-consuming and complex.
“We really had to construct something that would work for the exhibitors, that would work for Greta (Gerwig), that would work for Netflix, that would work for a lot of people, the right amount of windows, the right amount of play time,” he argued.
Gelfond added not every Netflix title will work in Imax theaters, which work well to launch movie events and franchises. “Given our track record and launching these kinds of events, there will be more projects like this. I think it (Narnia) will be successful at the end of the day. And I think it’s a good template for not just Netflix, but doing business with others,” he insisted.
Earlier on Wednesday, Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble, who has Imax screens in his cinema circuit, said of the Netflix partnership for Narnia that he would have liked to have seen a “more full wide release of a film such as that,” rather than what he saw as a promotional effort for Narnia ahead of a Netflix streaming release into a crowded Christmas 2026 box office period.
On the analyst call, Gelfond also pointed to a rebound in box office in China after sluggish revenues in the year ago period. “We are optimistic about the year ahead in China. Underlying demand for moving going is there, local film production budgets are growing, and the government is as supportive of the industry as it has ever been,” he told analysts.
Amid a recent record-breaking Chinese New Year slate in China, Imax had during that key holiday period five films bring in $130 million in box office to date, nearly double the previous best of $66 million in ticket sales set for the Chinese New Year window in 2023.