“Oppenheimer” just exploded IMAX‘s third-quarter earnings.
IMAX turned a profit ($12 million) in Q3 2023, the first time it could make that claim for the summer quarter since COVID. (IMAX has now turned a profit for four straight quarters.)
IMAX’s Q3 revenue soared 51 percent from July to September, the company’s second-highest-grossing quarter of all time at the global box office. Its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) jumped 174 percent to a record-high $45 million.
“Oppenheimer” alone brought in $180 million at the global IMAX box office. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1” (you know, the one now without a “Part 2”) and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” also chipped in. All-in, IMAX’s Q3 global box-office haul was $347 million.
While the seventh “Mission: Impossible” (which opened July 12) had a 9-day head start on “Oppenheimer” (and thus, “Barbie,” both opening July 21), Christopher Nolan’s epic snatched all Tom Cruise’s North American IMAX screens upon premiere. (Unlike “M:I 7,” “Oppenheimer” was shot entirely on IMAX large-format cameras.)
“M:I” star Cruise tried to personally claw a bunch of those back, according to a Puck report, but he proved unsuccessful. As did “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1.” To-date, “Oppenheimer” has made more than $945 million at the global box office; “Dead Reckoning” drew $567 million. “Oppenheimer” got three full weeks at 1,550 of IMAX’s total 1,700 venues worldwide. Clearly, the company bet on the right horse.
Shares of IMAX (listed on the NYSE as just IMAX) took off Wednesday morning after the company posted the good news. It may even touch $20 per share.
CEO Rich Gelfond called the summer’s financial results “spectacular by any measure” — and he’s really not exaggerating that much. IMAX beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations and whooped on even those bullish on its gross-profit possibilities.
This will be “one of the best years in our history at the global box office,” Gelfond said of 2023.
He’s got one quarter left to wrap up that claim. Fortunately, it’s the one that includes Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” — though no longer Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” The “Dune” sequel has been pushed to March 2024.
Though “Oppenheimer” and other Hollywood blockbusters have led the charge, Gelfond also credits his local-language strategy for success; China, certain European markets, and Southeast Asia were particular standouts this summer. China’s “Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms” set its own record with $32.3 million at the IMAX global box office.
