Coming soon: IMAX to screen more Chinese films as it looks to maximise box office takings
Company hauled record collections from Detective China Town 2, Monster Hunt 2 and Operation Red Sea during the Lunar New Year holiday
IMAX China, the provider of IMAX theatre systems for cinemas in Greater China, says it expects more Chinese productions to make up for this year’s total film screenings in the mainland.
While Hollywood films had been a “pillar of our programming strategy”, Chinese productions are increasingly accounting for a bigger volume, according to chief financial officer Jim Athanasopoulos.
“Based on the quality of the films coming out right now … the table’s been set,” said Athanasopoulos, without elaborating on how much more Chinese content would be screened this year.
The company, which reported a 22 per cent jump in profit to a record US$45.9 million on Wednesday, said 75 per cent of the content screened in IMAX theatres last year was from Hollywood and 25 per cent was Chinese films.
“It’s about managing to get the best films to our screens to maximise box office for our customers,” he said.
IMAX China reported record opening box office during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, driven by the strong performance of Chinese language films – Detective China Town 2, Monster Hunt 2 and Operation Red Sea.
The films grossed a combined US$18 million over a four-day period from February 16, representing a 60 per cent rise from the year-earlier period.