Avatar is as Big as They Get on IMAX

January 5, 2010

Avatar added another $8.7 million from 179 IMAX theaters domestically, which was virtually identical to last week's result. This pushed its running tally to $47.1 million after just three weeks of release. Internationally it grew to $4.0 million on 71 IMAX screens, including a single-day record of $1.425 million on Saturday, for a total of $20 million internationally and $67 million worldwide, which is a record for a day-and-date Hollywood release like this.

Furthermore, the IMAX corporation announced total global ticket sales for the format reached $100 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 and $270 million for the year. Both of these figures represented increases of more than 100% from the previous year and both are records. It wasn't that long ago that IMAX looked to be in fiscal trouble, but the DMR technology that allows films shot in regular format to be re-mastered in IMAX really helped turn things around. With more and more big-budget studio films being shown in IMAX theaters, there is almost always a major release being shown in IMAX theaters nationwide, especially during the busiest times at the box office.

The next major release for the format is Alice in Wonderland, which debuts in March. It is unlikely that this movie will break records like Avatar continues to do, but its visual style should help it thrive on IMAX in terms of ticket sales per screen compared to regular theaters.

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Source: IMAX.com

Filed under: Alice in Wonderland, Avatar