China expansion to help Imax hit US$1b box office

Imax chief executive Richard Gelfond forecasts annual box office receipts will almost double to US$1 billion in the next few years as the big-screen cinema firm expands in China, Russia and the Middle East.

"We've identified 1,700 target markets to put Imax theatres into in the world, and about 500 of them are in North America, so over time the vast majority of our revenues are going to come internationally," Gelfond said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"China, we used to say we could do 90 theatres; now we have a backlog of close to 400," Gelfond said on Monday. "In the next couple of years, our box office will get to a billion dollars."

Imax, based in Ontario, Canada, had 767 cinemas in 54 countries on June 30. Its global box office receipts were US$620.6 million last year, compared with US$417.2 million in 2011, company documents show.

Imax cinemas present films in two-dimensional and three-dimensional formats on large-format screens with specialised sound systems.

"China is first and foremost on their radar as an opportunity, and it's an underpenetrated market when it comes to cinemas and distribution," said Tony Genua, a fund manager with AGF Management.